Memories
by Soriya
Summary: Girl comes from the past with a mysterious family tree and friends. Half way completed
1. Chapter 1

**Memories**

** Chapter 1 **

**Have I been here before?**

Clow Reed was waiting for the arrival of his niece in front of his house. It was a cold day and was slowly getting dark. This was not the happiest of circumstances for a family reunion for Clow Reed's brother and his wife had recently died a few days ago.

He attended a most elegant funeral with tears rolling down the faces from their friends. But Clow Reed was too busy observing their daughter. Her name was Talida, no more that eight years of age. She had the tell tale sign of a Reed from her aquatic blue hair. This went well with her green eyes that shone like emeralds in the sunlight. People were worried about her at the funeral when no tears left her face for her parents. People thought she was struck dumb by the shock of it when she didn't utter a word for two days. But then she started to speak after the silence that was hers alone but still she didn't cry.

The butler who worked for Talida's parents was deemed to old to look after her. He knew he was too old and thought it to be a suitable arrangement. But Talida was far from happy about this decision that she couldn't make for herself. "Winston, why can't I stay with you? I haven't even met my uncle." Winston looked awkward about something but Talida was too depressed to notice. "You did when you were little."

"But it's not fair! How comes anyone can run my life but me?" Winston sighed. "I'm sorry Talida, but I'm too old to look after you. You're very mature for your age, so I think you'll do fine."

"I'm only eight and everyone's leaving me." Winston put a bony arm around Talida which did very little to comfort her. "This is for the best you'll see. I'm not going to be around long enough to see you grow up."

"You shouldn't talk like that Winston. You're only as old as you feel." Winston smiled making the deep wrinkles in his face grow even deeper. "If I were twenty years younger Talida then I would take you without a second thought." Talida looked out of the window to see the coach pulling up to the house. "I know Winston I know."

Talida got out of the cab wondering why so much had been taken from her in so little time. She walked towards Clow Reed and looked at him curiously. He looked both sad and happy at the arrival of his niece on this unpredictable day.

"Take good care of her Mr. Reed, she's like a granddaughter to me." Clow took his eyes off Talida and looked at Winston who was saddened. The Reeds were like a family to him and had to part with the one he held most dear to his heart. "I'll care for her as if she were my own." Talida hugged Winston tightly before he went back in to the coach.

At first Talida and Clow didn't know what to say to each other so Clow decided to break the ice. "I know this isn't the happiest of circumstances but I am more than happy to have you here. Would you like to see your new room?" Clow gave Talida a kind smile which she didn't return. She looked around as a strange feeling invaded her spirit and she just couldn't see what it was. She looked back at Clow and a small smile appeared on her face. "That would be wonderful." Clow held out his hand and she took it. He picked up her suitcase and led Talida to her room.

When she entered his house the strange feeling intensified. It felt familiar somehow, but she just couldn't remember when she felt it last. They went down the hall and past the only room with a closed door. The feeling intensified until they passed it completely.

At the end of the hall they entered a room with a bed and window. It was covered in dark blue, yellow and black like the colours on Clow Reeds cloak. "We can change the colours if you don't like them. All girls like pink right?" Talida looked at her uncle with a look of disgust. "You change it to that then I'm moving out. No…the colours are great, I don't think I'll be changing anything." Clow smiled and placed her suitcase on the end of her bed. That's when Talida noticed the same strange feeling seemed to be flowing around him as well. Clow noticed this and his smile started to fade in to a thoughtful look. Did he know she suspected something? Talida ignored it again and just smiled a little.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No…I'd rather just go to bed." Clow smiled again. "Very well, I'll see you in the morning Talida." He left her alone and she sat at the end of her bed. These days Talida hardly ate or slept since her parents passed away. She just sat on her bed and stared out of the window for most of the night.

Later she could hear voices and put an ear against the wall.

"Is she trustworthy?" Talida didn't recognise this voice. "What harm can a child do to us?" Or this one. "I know she feels this place and I aren't like other things, but I do not believe she is a threat."

'Who's he talking to at this time of night? I thought he was on his own.' Talida lost interest in the conversation and went back to her bed. For hours she stared at the ceiling before finally falling asleep.

When she woke up Talida felt no different to yesterday. Spring was in the air and the weird feelings seemed to have disappeared overnight. She sat with Clow in the dining room for breakfast and just like the days before she didn't eat much. Clow had just noticed his niece was staring out the window with a half eaten plate before her. "Not hungry?"

"Not since…" Talida couldn't bring herself to say it and Clow immediately understood.

He decided to take his niece out to the garden hoping it would cheer her up. "You have a beautiful garden." Clow smiled and she had a weak on her lips. "Thank you."

Suddenly the tree standing all alone covered in cherry blossom caught her attention. She ran up to it and touched the bark. "I remember this tree." She ran her hand along the bark trying to remember. "How old was I when I last visited you?" Clow stepped towards her with a thoughtful look on his face. "Let's see…you must've been about six years old." Then his mood quickly changed from happy to curious. "Do you remember anything else?" Talida looked thoughtfully at the tree and remembered seeing white feathers. But white feathers hardly counted as anything important so she just shook her head. Clow wasn't so sure about this but decided to act as innocent as possible.

Talida looked over to a path that led into an overgrown and wild looking part of the garden. Clow saw this and put a hand on her shoulder. "I want you to promise not to go in there Talida."

"Why uncle?"

"It's not safe, there are animals in there that might cause you harm. So please don't go in there." Talida looked suspicious but nodded just the same.

Later Talida explored the rest of the garden on her own and Clow went back inside. She sat in a spot hidden by a weeping willow tree situated near a large pond. She watched the water boatmen propel themselves over the water. Talida sat there watching the sunlight flicker through the leaves and ripple on the water.

Then she a heard a rustling sound behind her and she turned very quickly in the direction of the noise. She got up and slowly walked to the location of where the sound had come from. "Hello?" She called but no one answered. She looked down to see a feather of the purest white had been left behind. Talida picked it up and was very curious. 'Must be some big birds around here this feathers huge. But, I haven't seen any white birds around here that big.'

Clow was in the locked room looking out of the window. He didn't take his eyes off the willow tree, and he wasn't alone. The door behind Clow opened and closed. "How is she Yue?" A man dressed in white approached Clow from the shadows. The only funny thing about this guy was that he had no shoes on and there were pure white wings situated on his back. "She's sitting near the pond master."

"Master, if she is anything like her father-"

"I know Kiro, but I have to keep her mind clear of the past. She is already in torment, if she remembers anything that has happened then her torture will increase. Keep the door locked at all times and take your temporary form. Yue try to keep you and your wings hidden when you are out of this room." Yue looked at Clow and frowned. "Yes master."

Meanwhile Talida kept running the feather through her fingers again and again. The strange feeling from yesterday had come back even stronger. 'How do I know this? I feel like I remember something, but when it comes to me it always vanishes at the last second. I remember coming here and leaving but what happened in the four months I stayed?'

A while later Clow came to the weeping willow and sat beside Talida. "This is a nice spot you've chosen, I sometimes come here to reflect on things." Talida smiled half heartedly. The feather in her hands seemed to be playing on her mind more than anything. Clow just noticed Talida running it through her fingers deep in thought. "What's that you've got there?"

"I found it behind that bush over there. It's strange really, you don't have any big white birds around here." Clow had to think fast. "Must have been blown here by the wind." Talida thought this sounded reasonable and took a closer look at the thing in her hands. This seemed innocent enough but her uncle didn't want to risk it. "May I have it?" Talida looked confused. "It's just that I collect all sorts of feathers." Talida didn't know what to think but handed it over. For some reason she felt she gave away something important but didn't think much of it.

A while later they went back to the house for lunch. Clow Reed made sure Talida was out of the house before going back in to the locked room. Yue and Kiro turned to look at their master who looked troubled. "Talida found this by a bush near the weeping willow." Clow held up the feather. Yue inspected his wings to see that a feather did indeed fall out. "If you happen to loose another one Yue do try to keep track of them. Talida is already suspicious and has pointed out the fact there are no white birds that big around here."

"Yes master."

Two weeks had passed since Talida arrived and Clow was thinking of giving her an education. But it was too dangerous to let her go to school. He was afraid the children might beat her again and end up injuring her permanently. Last time that happened she only had a few bruises and Clow managed to stop it before she was seriously hurt. The towns people a mile or two down the road didn't fear him but felt he didn't belong here. They felt the same way towards the rest of his family. But Clow Reed was in high society and wealthy enough to be tolerated by the adults but the children were afraid. Talida was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was small and easy prey to get their point across. A private tutor he didn't know was out of the question so that just left one more option.

He had been observing Yue without wings and a strange thought came to him. "A private tutor? Me?" Yue looked surprised at the mere thought of it and Clow just smiled in a mischievous sort of way. "Yes, you have human form after all. But you do need to be dressed down a bit, make you look more like an everyday teacher." Yue didn't like sound of this whereas Kiro loved the idea. He thought it was great that the powerful and dignified guardian would have to act like an everyday human.

Clow managed to find a plain white robe and a plain black robe to go over it. He had to buy Yue some shoes (none of Clow's fitted him). He looked ok but didn't have that tutor look so Clow found some old glasses and took out the glass. They tucked Yue's long hair in to his robes where it couldn't be seen. When they had finished Kiro took a look in his temporary form and burst out laughing. He had tears in his eyes and was on the floor. It was only when Yue gave Kiro an icy glare did he stop laughing and made a quick retreat to the room.

The next day Clow Reed woke Talida earlier than usual. After breakfast he introduced Talida to her…tutor. "Why can't I go to school like the other kids?" Clow's smile was still there as he tried to come up with a reason. "It's just easier this way."

They went in to the living room to see Yue was sitting on the chair. "Talida this is Rei, he'll be you tutor." Yue got up out of his seat and turned to face Talida. He hadn't seen here properly since she arrived and noticed she had grown a couple of feet. She wasn't the happy little child he remembered, in fact she seemed to be in a great deal of pain. "Pleasure to meet you sir." Clow looked over to Yue who came back to his senses. "Just call me Rei." Talida gave a weak smile and nodded.

For the next couple of hours he taught her about the history of Japan. Talida found this to be interesting and proved to be a very good student.

When lunch arrived there was a problem as Yue didn't eat. So they made a rule saying Rei doesn't eat with his students and he crept away for half an hour. When he came back he saw Talida had eaten very little. "A strong mind requires a strong body." Talida looked at her food and felt sick. Yue found it hard to see Talida like this but had to stick to the role of being her new tutor. "I…can't…"

"Why?"

"I don't know." Yue sat next to Talida and looked in to her eyes. "Your uncle told me why you are here and it's understandable not to eat." He saw her eyes were dull and were surrounded by deep, dark rings. "Not sleeping much?" Talida nodded. "With the death of your parents being such a big shock your energies are out of balance and disrupts your physical patterns. I can help you balance them out again but I need you to trust me." Talida nodded and Yue took her outside. He taught her Tai Chi and she looked a little better for it. "Do you feel more balanced?" Talida shrugged her shoulders. "I feel lighter, like something has been lifted from inside of me."

"That's good but it will take some time before you are back to your old self again."

Over the course of two months Yue taught Talida various subjects. Reading, writing, maths, and the list goes on.

He took part in an art lesson once. Yue was good at most things but art wasn't one of them. They were painting a picture of the garden and Yue had no problem getting the arts equipment set up but he had no talent. Talida however proved to have a talent when it came to art. Unfortunately Kiro got to look at the painting at the end of the day and was subdued by another fit of laughter again.

Yue was back in his original clothing and couldn't take much more of Kiro's laughing. So he threw a small ball of light at him. Kiro managed to dodge it but the ball left a burn mark in the wall. Clow wasn't happy and told both of them off. Kiro kept his laughter inside and Yue calmed down.

The Tai Chi classes were helping Talida a little. She actually ate and slept a little more but not a lot had changed.

"Today we are going to see your archery skills." Talida looked a bit confused. "Why archery?"

"It helps people to focus." Talida wasn't sure about this and neither was her uncle. But Clow allowed it and they went outside to start. Talida helped Rei to set up the targets and string the bows. But Rei had to step in and string the bows; Talida had the right motivation but was too small and weak to complete her task.

Once everything was finished Talida watched Yue shoot some arrows before having her turn. First she hit the ground before the target and felt angry. But after Rei showed her how to hit the target and hold the bow properly she hit the target every time. She got better as each day passed and even started to split Rei's arrows down the middle.

Clow Reed wasn't surprised but Yue and Kiro were wondering how she learnt this so quickly. "It runs in the blood. Her father was a great archer and won trophies in competitions. That's how her parents met, he beat Talida's mother and at first they didn't like each other. But after they saw their differences they married each other, it's true when they say opposites attract. Talida's parents couldn't have been more different even if they tried."

Yue moved from archery to fighting skills. He still taught her the usual subjects but thought she needed to be able to defend herself. If anything like last time were to happen in the town again.

"Stand firm but bend like the bamboo in the wind. Let your senses guide you if your eyes cannot." Talida knew a little about how to use the staff and sparred with Yue for an hour. She found it fun and enjoyed herself immensely. He half hoped she would remember the last time they did this but this seemed new to her. Yue came from behind and she blocked his attack. If he was her father then he would be proud to see how much she learnt over such a short space of time.

After two hours she didn't seem that tired until they started to walk back to the house. She suddenly felt dizzy and staggered. "Rei?" Yue turned just in time to see Talida pass out and start to fall to the ground. He caught her just before she hit the ground. He spoke her name and shook her slightly but she didn't come round. Yue ran back to the house with Talida in his arms.

He put her to bed before getting Clow Reed who was not happy. "Fighting skills? How could you be so careless Yue? The strain on her body was too great form lack of food and sleep." Yue looked frightened and ashamed at his ignorance. "I'm sorry master." Clow sat on Talida's bed and stroked her face. He sighed and looked back at Yue with very sad eyes. "I know Yue; I just hope she wakes up. I couldn't bare it if she were to die as well. She is after all the last of my family."

Later that night a voice sounded in Talida's head causing her to stir under the sheets. Then she saw an image of the man's voice standing at the far end of the garden. She came closer and closer until his face came clear. She immediately woke up and went to the window. She was half hoping it would be a dream and the other half just seem to cry out to her. She listened intently for the voice she knew so well. "Talida."

"Father?" She whispered breathing on the window so a mist mark appeared on the window.

Talida opened the window and landed on the ground beneath. She ran to the location in her dream with her heart pounding painfully against her rib cage. She ignored the cold as her toes slowly became numb and mist appeared on her every breath.

Clow also heard the voice and quickly ran to Talida's room to find her gone and the window open. He alerted the guardians and they immediately began to search the garden.

Talida had reached her destination to find herself at the far end of the garden and in the beginnings of a wood. She listened again and the voice came through the trees. She ran towards her father's voice to find him standing in the middle of a clearing beside a dead tree. "Daddy!" She called making her feather turn with a great big smile on his face. "I knew you would find me." She ran up to him and hugged him tight. For a moment they stood there in this loving embrace not daring to let go.

Clow and the guardians were still searching but found nothing of Talida in the garden. Yue heard a small cry that sounded like 'daddy' and he ran towards it.

Talida and her father were still in the loving embrace. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too my little princess." Then he looked up and his smile started to fade. Talida looked at her fathers face as he kneeled down in front of her. "I'm sorry to leave you again but I can't stay long."

Silent tears started to roll down Talida's face. "No, no, no! This isn't fair! I've only just got you back again! Can I at least see mum?" Her father's eyes welled up with tears too and he looked as sad as his daughter. "Your mother will see you later. You have no idea how sorry I am but I have no choice. I came back to give you a couple of things and then I must leave you." Talida hated this but understood.

Her father took something off from around his neck. "First I give you my pendant, you'll need it." He handed Talida a blue pendant with black wings. In the middle was an odd looking circle. 'Sun on one side of the circle and the crescent moon on the other. Both joined as one?' Talida thought as he carefully closed her hand around it.

"My brother really didn't want me to give your memories back but you would have found out anyway." Talida looked deeply confused. "Found out what dad?"

"I'm going to give you back your memories from your last visit. I will be gone once that happens." Talida hugged her feather one last time and he hugged her back. She let go to receive her memories.

It started to rain and Haku Reed started to cry. Talida had stopped crying and he told her to close her eyes. Talida obeyed and lost sight of her beloved father. He placed a hand on her head and the images that were once lost sprang to life in her mind. The shock of it made her pass out again and her father carried her to the shelter of a nearby tree. The rain became heavier but Talida was sheltered by the flora and fauna so not one drop of rain hit her. Haku took one last look at his daughter before he disappeared in to the darkness of the night.

Yue found Talida safe under a tree sleeping peacefully. The night grew colder and her lips had turned blue. Yue touched her forehead and she felt surprisingly warm. He took off his outer white robe and wrapped it around Talida. He had her in his arms as they flew back to the house.

Halfway there Talida woke and saw herself flying through the air. She looked up to see Yue looking straight ahead. It was only when he looked down at his passenger did he see she was awake. At first he didn't know what to do and just looked back in to those gentle green eyes. "Hi Yue." She whispered and he looked a bit surprised that she remembered him. "You remember me?" He asked. "Mhmm." Talida mumbled, she found it hard work to talk and had a weak smile on her face. "Go back to sleep Talida. You've had a strange night." Talida closed her eyes and sleep quickly grabbed hold of her.

Her clothes were quite dry so Yue put Talida to bed still wrapped in his robe and lit a fire. He stayed by her side and waited for Clow to return. An hour later Clow and Kiro entered the room to see Talida safely back in her bed asleep. Clow Reed's heart stopped when he saw the pendant in Talida's hand. "She'll remember everything when she wakes. There's no point in hiding from her anymore." Talida's lips were no longer blue with cold and turned back to a healthy rose colour.

Yue had a small smile playing on his lips about this news and was caught by Clow. Yue tried to hide it but wasn't quick enough. Clow wasn't angry but started to smile as well. "I understand why you are happy Yue and I won't be erasing her mind again. But I wonder if she will be angry." Yue's smile vanished and Kiro looked concerned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

** I Remember You**

Talida slept for about twenty four hours and woke up the next night. She felt like her old self again and was pleased she got to say goodbye to her father.

Yue and Kiro took turns watching Talida all the way through they day and night. Kiro was asleep at the foot of her bed when she woke. She realised that she was wrapped up in Yue's robe and took it off. She carefully walked around him and out the door towards the mysterious room she remembered so well now. Inside she saw Yue asleep on a couch with a fire beside it. Half of his face had fallen prey to the shadows whilst the rest was caressed by the light from the fire.

She thought it best not to wake him and looked around the room. The picture of her and the guardians with her uncle were on the mantelpiece above the fire. Each memory from the pictures danced in her head and she smiled. Talida was about to leave when she spotted her uncle's staff propped up against the armchair opposite the couch. She ran a hand along it.

"So your awake now?" Talida turned to see her uncle smiling at her. "Sorry if I worried you."

"If he came to see me then I would have done the same thing if I were in your position."

Talida went over to Yue and draped his robe on him like a blanket. He moved his head and made a soft groaning sound but didn't wake from his slumber. "He stayed by your bedside until an hour ago when Kiro convinced him to get some sleep. He blames himself for you passing out after his fighting lesson."

"I'm annoyed that he deceived me for so long. I'm angry that you wiped my memories away but I can't blame either of you. He was following orders and you didn't want me to remember what happened in the dark part of the garden. A four year old would love this place and no one would believe me if I told anyone. I would have probably been beaten by kid's everyday by telling stories that are true and be left by my friends. But I've grown up a little more and I'm wiser so there's no danger in me telling stories. This is a secret part of my life that no one but us and the guardians will know about." Clow was pleased to hear it and she went back to bed.

In the morning she woke to the sound of Kiro walking out of her room. Talida slowly got up and changed in to her clothes. She ate all her breakfast which pleased Clow no end. She got to see her father and her energies balanced right out. "Your back to your old self?" Talida nodded and smiled. "I don't think there will be any lessons today, your tutor is still asleep." Talida giggled and went to the garden.

She went to the Cheery blossom tree to see Yue sleeping beside it. Talida stayed by the willow and read a book for a few hours. His gentle breathing even made Talida want to go back to sleep and she caught herself nodding off. She got bored and collected some pencils and a piece of paper. She went back to the willow tree to see Yue was still asleep. She began to draw him and Kiro no longer in his temporary form came by. "Talida?"

"Shhh!" Talida put a finger to her lips and Kiro took a look at what she was drawing. "That's very good, will you draw me next?" Talida nodded as she concentrated on Yue's face. She found human features very hard to draw but managed to do it after another hour. It took so long that even Kiro fell asleep. She drew Kiro asleep as well and it took less time. That only left her uncle Clow, but could she catch him sleeping long enough to draw a picture?

When she nearly finished Kiro's picture she heard someone yawn loudly behind her. Kiro was roused and Talida sighed, she took her picture and screwed it up. "Could you be any louder? I don't think the rest of the world heard you." Talida sounded annoyed and Yue didn't quite know what to do. "I'm sorry mistress." The word mistress sent a shiver down her spine. She hated titles and jumped up like she was sitting on something hot. She looked scared at first but then she laughed. "Mistress? Since when have you ever called me that? We are friends aren't we?" Yue nodded and Kiro smiled.

Talida showed Yue her picture and didn't tell Kiro what happened to his. But she made up for it by drawing him awake instead. Yue yawned again and leaned back on to the tree. "Still tired I see. So what will you be teaching me tomorrow Rei?" Yue smiled and Talida smiled back. "What do you want to learn?"

"I'm eating and sleeping properly so it would be nice to have another fighting lesson. I won't pass out I promise." Yue and Kiro looked a bit apprehensive about this but agreed. Yue fell asleep again when Talida went inside to have lunch.

The next day things were back to the way they were. Yue was her tutor again and Kiro tagged along. "I'm glad your in your usual clothes Yue. I couldn't keep a straight face when I pictured you in your new outfit. It really didn't look good on you and the glasses were a bit much." Kiro laughed and Yue rolled his eyes. But he had to agree that his old clothes were much better on him.

First Talida was taught another language and Kiro found it boring. He joked and fooled around with Talida quietly but Yue seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. She had to write an essay as punishment and Kiro had to help her. Yue was no tutor but knew how to deal out punishments very well. "No wonder he's called the judge." Talida whispered to Kiro. "It's so hard just to make him smile; when you called him an angel I thought you were mad."

"Stop talking and finish your work!" Yue said as he fixed them with an icy glare, he looked angry so they didn't say another word.

Later the fighting lessons continued and Talida even got one over on Yue. Kiro laughed and applauded Talida as Yue rubbed his back where he fell. He looked embarrassed and his pride was wounded. But Talida gave him a helping hand to get up off the ground. He looked annoyed and humiliated but took it willingly. Kiro kept laughing. "Kiro stop it!" Kiro immediately stopped and stared at Talida. Even Yue looked surprised that it was she who told Kiro off and not himself.

When the lesson was finished Talida looked breathless but happy. Yue looked concerned but Talida told him not to be. "I'm not dizzy so I'm not going to pass out Ok?" Yue nodded and was back to his usual, dignified, self.

For the first time in a few months Talida felt good and energetic. Yue was having a rest whilst Kiro and Talida were playing a game of hide and seek. Kiro was bigger than Talida so she found him easily. But when Kiro took his other form Talida had no idea what he looked like. She would've asked Yue for help but Yue being Yue would see this as a waste of precious time. She decided to test her powers and held her fathers pendant. She looked around for a while before her eyes settled on a stuffed looking animal and looked right at it. "You can take any form my friend but I'll always be able to find you." The little thing sighed and turned back in to the Kiro she knew and loved. "You never used to be able to find me."

"I can feel the difference between an object free from magic and one that isn't." Kiro looked at her father's pendant in her hand. "He must've loved you very much to part with that. He wouldn't have parted with that for all the tea in china and you know he loved tea."

"People are known to pass things on after death. I guess my father took it literally." Talida looked a little sad after that and Kiro had an idea that might cheer her up.

When they came out Yue was surprised to see Talida riding Kiro's back. First they started slowly and trotted round the garden. But then Kiro went faster and Talida didn't like it. "Hey! Kiro slow down!" But Kiro went even faster and Talida felt they were going to take off. She didn't realise how right she was until Kiro spread his wings. "Kiro don't! I mean it, if you take off- KKKIIIRRRROOOO!" Kiro took flight and Talida screamed her head off for a few seconds.

Yue quickly stood up and wondered what on earth Kiro was doing. He looked worried but knew Kiro wouldn't let her fall so he sat down again.

Talida was scared out of her wits at being so high. Kiro knew she was scared but his plan had to work. "Hold on to my shoulders but don't pull my fur out."

"Ok Kiro, and by the way you'd better not land anytime soon."

"Why?"

"If you do then I'll kill you for real this time!" Kiro seemed worried but Talida changed her tune as they flew around. It took ten minutes for her to start laughing and she stopped screaming when they dived from a great height. "WOOOHOOO!" They picked up speed and Yue had a heart wrenching moment when they approached the ground. Kiro pulled up before they hit the ground so sharply Talida felt her stomach jolt with joy. Yue's also flipped and was glad that he didn't eat.

Kiro was exhausted and they glided down to the ground. Talida held her arms out and laughed her head off. The feeling was intoxicating and she felt a bit disappointed when they landed. Kiro panted heavily and looked very tired. "It's…been a while…since I last…did that." He panted and Talida hugged him. "Thanks for cheering me up."

Yue approached them and looked a bit angry. "Our master likes us to keep a low profile. We can't fly around everywhere with children on our backs. I thought you had more sense than this Talida, you know how important it is that we aren't known. Especially after the last time you were here. She won't ever forget you and is a constant threat to us. How would your parents feel about that? Do you want us to become open targets to her? Well?" Talida looked ashamed and shook her head, she was wrapped with guilt. "Good, now go somewhere else so I can have a word with Kiro." Talida went to the weeping willow tree and was soon out of site.

Kiro glared at Yue and had something to say. "That was out of order Yue!"

"She has to learn Kiro!"

"To bring her parents in to it was well out of line! It's only been a few months since she lost them and has been mature for long enough. She deserved to enjoy herself for a moment." Yue realised his mistake too late but was adamant to prove a point. "Clow Reed-"

"Would agree with me! She's only eight years old and has felt very little else apart from pain since when she first came here. What was it you two used to say? Friends forever? You may be her tutor but you've changed, and it's not a very nice one." Kiro was very angry when he walked away and Yue wondered. 'Changed?'

When Yue gathered himself together he went over to the willow and heard something that made his heart drop. Talida was crying and muttering to herself in between sobs. "When I said…I wondered what it was like to…to fly like a bird…I didn't mean it literally. What would my…parent's think? Stupid! I'm…so stupid! I'm…sorry my friends…I'm so sorry."

Now it was Yue's turn to feel guilty and he came towards Talida. Her eyes were so full of tears that she didn't notice him sit down beside her. It was only when he put an arm around her did she know he was there. It made her jump and she turned to him with her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry Yue." Yue made a gentle shushing sound and Talida stopped crying. "I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. You act so mature I often forget your eight years old." Yue held her closer and Talida put her head in his lap wiping her eyes dry.

"I'm sorry for bringing your parents in to it. That was an inexcusable thing to do." Talida looked up in to Yue's eyes. "But you were right; I wouldn't have known what they would've thought anyway." Yue raised his eye brows and looked curious to what she meant so Talida explained. "You know they were hardly home due to their work on holidays, and I was sent to a boarding school on school days. I was surrounded by people but felt alone. Do you understand that?" Yue nodded. "I wish I did. I also wish I got to know them better but…"

"Yes. Both of your parents were on the magic side and had to leave you with Winston and a secure place for your safety. The world is a dangerous place, I hope you never have to experience it the way I have."

"Is that why you are such a grouch?" Yue narrowed his eyes and turned cold. "I'm kidding." Talida said in a so, so sort of way. Yue had a slight smile which Talida didn't return. "Yue, I'm scared of her." Yue stroked her head and Talida relaxed a little. "Clow Reed will be unlocking your powers soon. You'll be able to protect yourself and will have no reason to be afraid."

"Really?" Yue nodded and looked tired. He yawned and closed his eyes inevitably falling asleep again. "Thanks Yue." Talida looked up to see Yue had fallen asleep again. 'Still tired I guess.' Talida felt tired too after the training and excitement. She put her head down and fell asleep as well on Yue's lap.

Talida's dreamed about something from the past where she felt frightened and hurt. She was going to market with Clow Reed when she was six. She was left alone for only a moment when the town kids attacked. Clow Reed was on the other side of the street when it happened.

She lagged behind after looking at some jewellery and then became cornered by the kids. They surrounded her and she wasn't afraid…at first. "Hi." The kids didn't answer and looked at her with bad intentions. "Your uncles a freak!" One kid said. "Yeah!" Another one said.

"If he's a freak then your one too!" A boy cried not much older than herself.

"Witch!"

"Weirdo!"

"Witch,

witch;

you're a witch!" They all chanted. It was only when someone threw a stone at her did they all attack. They continued to chant and didn't care that she didn't retaliate. One hit her on an arm, another on a leg and the next one hit her above her right eye. She screamed in pure fear and pain. "UNCLE CLOW!" She screamed at the top of her voice. The kids legged it and Clow Reed ran up to his niece who was huddled on the ground. Her body shook with fear and she sobbed in to her hands. Clow picked her up and glared at the children who ran away from the scene of the crime.

When they got home he took Talida to her room to see the extent of her injuries. Silent tears rolled down her face and she looked scared to death. Clow found bruises on her arms and legs but he paid more attention of the one over her right eye. A cut had appeared and some blood had escaped. She didn't speak and just kept crying. He hugged her tight but couldn't stop her trembling.

She didn't come to dinner so Clow tucked her up in bed. Talida looked very down trodden and still didn't utter a word. There was nothing he could say to cheer her up and just left her there to sleep. Talida didn't sleep, all she could hear were the children chanting in her ears and their hateful faces leering down at her.

In the morning she felt no better and hardly slept at all. She was still trembling and felt ill at the mere memory of it. Kiro came in to cheer her up but couldn't get through to her at all and she really liked him. He tried everything from jokes to games. Talida wouldn't laugh or play, she just sat there at the end of her bed with the curtains drawn. The darkness seemed to make her feel secure in a strange way. No one asked Yue to help because they couldn't see him being sensitive to a six year old.

Talida still didn't eat and hardly slept when the second day came round and Clow was running out of ideas. Yue could see Kiro was trying hard but nothing was getting through to her. So he decided to try.

Yue knocked on the door but got no answer. He went in and saw her staring at the floor in the dark. Yue sat beside her and looked at the spot she was staring at. Finding nothing of interest he went over to the window and opened the curtains. This made Talida spring in to action. She ran over to the curtains and closed them quickly. Yue looked alarmed and tried to put his hand on her shoulder. She stepped aside and looked like a frightened rabbit. "Why do you sit in the dark?" Talida didn't answer and just stared at the floor again.

She sat back on her bed and Yue stood in front of her. He wondered what to do but nothing came to him. "Look at me." Talida didn't look at him at first but slowly raised her head. He saw the bruise above her eye that seemed to be healing. "They did this to you?" Talida looked away from Yue who knew he put his foot in it. "I'm not very good at this I know, but we need you to come out. Please say something. Kiro is out of ideas; the master is at his wits end and is thinking of sending you to a healer."

"No." Talida looked even more frightened. "It speaks, but why did you start now?"

"Winston said anywhere but here, my home and school aren't safe. She could find me." Yue could swear that he could hear Talida's heart beat become faster. What he said frightened Talida worse than before. But at least she had snapped out of her stupor and was talking again. Yue made a ball of light appear above his hand and she seemed intrigued. "What is that?"

"I use it as an attack, but now I'm just using it to get some light in here. Do you like it?" Talida smiled weakly. "Yeah. Does it take much energy to make?"

"Not really, but it would save my energy if you open the curtains." Talida agreed and opened them wide. Yue made the ball disappear and Talida looked out of the window. "Why do they hate me so much?" Yue stood up and stood beside her. "It's not you they hate. It's what you represent and the master's power they fear."

"But I don't have any powers." Silent tears rolled down her face. Yue put an arm around her and held her close. "The world can be a cruel place sometimes but if you get knocked down you get up again. Don't give up and you'll get respected for it." Talida stopped crying and wiped the tears away. "Thanks Yue. So…I guess that makes us friends now?" Yue looked confused but nodded just the same. "Friends forever?" Talida held out a hand for Yue to take. He looked at her and a small smile appeared on his face. "Indeed."

Back to when she was eight the garden where she slept grew cold and dark. Yue woke to find Talida still on his lap fast asleep. He gently picked her up and carried her to the house.

He put Talida to bed and tucked her in. Talida woke up and looked incredibly frightened about something. A sudden thought hit her, what if Clow Reed did the same to Yue and Kiro. She grabbed his hand and he could feel her trembling. "Friends forever Yue no matter what Ok?"

"What's wrong?"

"Promise me Yue! Please!"

"I promise no matter what." Before he could ask she had fallen back to sleep and didn't seem to be worried at all. It was as if her panic was never there so he just left.

The next day Clow Reed came to a decision and spoke to Talida about it. "I heard about you and Kiro yesterday and I want to know how it felt."

"You're not angry?" Clow shook his head so Talida tied to answer him. "It felt like a freedom I've never felt before."

"How would you like to learn to fly by yourself?" This sudden announcement knocked Talida back a little. "Magic?" Clow nodded with a great big smile on his face. "I'm not sure if I want to learn about that."

"How do you know that until you've tried?"

For the next month Talida changed her father's pendant in to a staff. An out fit appeared to match her black staff. She had a spiked black robe like Yue's without the tassels and a small wide rimmed hat; whilst her arms and legs were covered in a grey material. Talida learnt move things from one place to another in many different ways. Then she learnt how to wield the elements and other things. She learnt all of the magic from the cards without even using one. But there was one she didn't want to know and Clow found her out.

He took her out to the garden late at night. "Now I'm going to teach you how to fly." Talida looked very nervous at this proposal and Clow had a cheeky smile on his face. "Trust me." Talida created some wings on her back. But they weren't white like Yue's or golden like Kiro's. Instead they were pitch black and shaped like a falcon's resembling the wings on her staff. "Now what?" Clow Reed turned to Yue. "Take her up in to the air Yue."

"What?" Yue nodded and came towards her. "Yue! No!" He picked her up and they went high above the clouds. Talida was scared out of her wits as she looked down to the ground far below. "Ok…this is way too high!"

"Relax, I won't let you fall."

"You promise?" Yue nodded and Talida felt a little more relaxed. "Aright, I can do this."

Yue turned Talida to faced him so she could spread her wings. She did so and flapped them a little slowly growing more confident. He let her go without knowing and she fell screaming a little. He caught her and they tried again. "I thought you said you won't let me fall!"

"Then how will you learn?" Talida looked very angry but agreed with Yue's logic.

It was only on the forth launch did she fly for herself. Due to her wings she was much faster than Yue and zipped around him. She dived in to a cloud and didn't come out. Yue tried to find her and she came out from behind him yelling "BOO!" This made him jump. Yue turned to see she had disappeared in to the cloud again. He looked angry and the one thing you shouldn't do is make Yue mad. Eventually she came out of the cloud when Yue looked less annoyed. "Why did you do that?" He asked her with a stern look on his face. "That's pay back for scaring me when you dropped me without warning. Don't try to deny it I saw you smile each time."

"Why whatever do you mean?" Yue asked with an innocent look. "I don't know if you've noticed but it's nearly impossible to get you to admit to acting childish." Talida smiled. "I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks…for teaching me how to fly." Yue smiled and she smiled back as they glided back to Clow Reed and landed in front of them.

"And?" Clow asked with his smile that never seemed to end. "Alright I take it back, magic is a great thing to have and I was wrong." Kiro smiled looking smug and Yue had that dignified look again.

Talida's life was becoming as normal as any kind in her position could be. Yue was still her tutor and Kiro taught her how to have fun every now and again.

The next couple of years were the best in her life. She spent her ninth birthday with them happy to be alive. The party was a magical one she enjoyed very much and the same went for Halloween, Easter and other events for the year. She found November the fifth to be brilliant with its magical fireworks Clow Reed made himself.

Christmas came round and Talida was keeping a happy face on. But her thoughts were on her parents not being there for Christmas. Talida missed them greatly and felt very sick after she had Christmas dinner. She loved her presents and went outside to the garden later to reflect on things. She sat on the ground and looked at her father's pendant. That was when she broke down completely and curled up in to a ball of silent sobs.

The others were in the house relaxing after their Christmas dinner. Only Yue was worried about Talida, he didn't say anything but caught her looking sad when she left.

When he found her she had stopped crying and was sitting up with her pendant in her hands. "Are you alright?" She looked over to Yue and knew he could see she had been crying. She had a horrible forced smile on her face and nodded. "I haven't given you my Christmas present yet." He took out a ring with a white moon stone on it. "This is in case you need me. All you have to do is hold it and call my name three times."

"Why?" Talida asked curiously. "I'll be there before you know it." He put it in her hand and she looked in to his eyes. "You're not alone." He said and walked back to the house. She looked at the ring and put it on the chain were it hung beside her father's pendant. Talida ran up to Yue and took him by the hand. "Thanks Yue." Yue squeezed her hand and she did the same. "Your welcome." Talida held Yue's hand all the way back to the house.

Shortly after her 10th birthday things took a turn for the worst.

Talida was in the garden when she saw a man leave the house. She recognised him as a doctor and felt something was very wrong. She ran inside the house to see Kiro and Yue looking grave. "Kiro? Yue? Why was the doctor here?" They didn't look at her and the silence was torture. "Where's Clow Reed? Where is my uncle?" Kiro moved his head towards the living room and Talida's heart was racing.

Talida went in to see her uncle sitting calmly on a chair with his staff leaning against the chair. "Uncle? Wh-what's going on?" Clow Reed looked at her with no smile on his face. "I think you know." Talida couldn't believe it and didn't want to. "You're…dying? But you can't be dying! This isn't fair you shouldn't be dying! Your young, your strong this doesn't make any sense!"

"Don't be afraid Talida; we'll see each other again." Clow was far from comforting Talida. "No, no, no-" She said over and over again without taking her eyes off her uncle. "It's alright."

"NO IT'S NOT!" Talida ran out the room with tears springing to her eyes.

She ran outside and flew high above the clouds. She stopped for a moment and looked around before letting loose an angry scream full of grief. She stayed there for hours on end and cried.

When it got dark Yue flew up to her looking as sad as she did. He tried to take her hand but she moved away and started to descend. Yue was confused but didn't leave her side on the way down. Talida wanted to run away from it all. 'But to where?' That was when she looked over to the tree covered in cherry blossom. She looked to Yue who still looked confused about what was going on in Talida's mind.

She made her staff appear and walked towards the tree. "I'm sorry Yue." She tapped the tree and it glowed. Yue still didn't know what she was going on about so she decided to keep her goodbye short. "I…" She faltered not knowing what to say next. "Goodbye my friend." She walked closer to the tree. "Goodbye? Talida wait!" But his cry came too late. Talida had stepped in to the tree and passed to the future.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

** A new Beginning**

When Talida came out the other side she passed out. It took a lot of energy to open the portal as well as keeping it open. She had no idea when she was but awoke to find herself in the guardian's room. It was night time and the room was dark. She woke up on the couch and saw her uncle's staff leaning against the chair like nothing had happened. "What the?" She got up to see a boy step out from behind the chair no older than herself. He had the same coloured hair and wore glasses. He wore everyday clothes and wasn't alone. She turned to see a girl dressed in black and a creature which resembled a panther. But they had butterfly wings instead of feathered wings and didn't look to sure about her.

Talida turned back to the boy and wanted some answers. "No it wasn't a dream." He said. "Who are you? Where are Kiro and Yue? Where's Clow Reed? Where's my uncle?" The boy looked mysterious and told the others to leave. When they were gone he explained.

"I am Eli Moon, the reincarnation of your uncle. You know what that means don't you?" Talida turned her head and closed her eyes. "Yes I do."

"No one can escape from the past no matter how hard they try." Talida smiled. "Really? I hadn't noticed." Eli smiled too and looked less threatening. "I'm leaving today. You can stay here to go to school; someone you know will be here to look after you soon." Talida's smile vanished. "I loose you in the past; I come to the future only for you to leave me again. Is there anything you can say that won't leave my head spinning?"

"There are things that will leave your head spinning here all the time. But don't worry you'll adapt." Eli went towards the door. "I never thought I'd be saying this to someone my age but…goodbye uncle…see you around." Eli didn't respond and left whilst Talida tried to get her head around what was happening. She looked out of the window to see the world had changed a lot. It seemed the little town she knew had grown a great deal and surrounded the house. The garden remained unchanged, but the wood beside it had been cut down.

She stared in the darkness of the room trying to make sense of it all. After an hour or two someone entered the room. "Talida?" Her eyes widened. "It can't be!" She exclaimed as she got up. "Winston? You look…younger." Winston laughed as Talida hugged him tightly. "I may be a reincarnation too but I'm no different from the Winston you knew and loved. You are just like a granddaughter to me." Talida knew this wasn't a dream and smiled. "I've missed you so much."

"Me too." Talida cried tears of joy. They went somewhere else for a year and a half so she could learn about the future whilst having fun.

She was ten now and was going to school after Halloween. But she made a promise to herself about making any friends. She didn't want to go to any funerals again and a name change seemed to be in order. Talida and Winston thought about one but none seemed to fit. Talida then thought about writing her name backwards and it worked.

"Class." The teacher always said this when there was an announcement to make. "You have a new class mate today. I would like to introduce Adilat Deer." Talida was dressed in the uniform which she didn't like and covered it with a full length leather coat. She had a seat at the back of the class in the sunlight making her hair turn blue.

A girl with long black hair smiled at her in a friendly way. Talida didn't return it and just did her work. After lunch she went out in to t he playground alone. She noticed a secondary school was next door. The only thing that separated the school was a crosswire fence making it very easy for the younger students to ask advice from the older ones.

Talida was sitting beside it hearing a boy called Tori having and argument with his younger sister Sakura. The girl with the black hair who smiled in the morning at Talida came over to her. "Hi, you're Alidat right?" Talida nodded thinking. 'Your power of deduction is astounding.'

"I'm Madison. Do you want to come and say hello to Sakura? She's been here longer than I have and I know how scary it is to start at a new school." Talida raised an eye brow. 'Do I look scared?' Talida wondered how long she could take the company of this annoyingly happy person. "It is?"

"You're not scared?" Talida looked away. "No." Madison didn't know what to say next, Talida just wished she would stop talking and go away. "So…um…if you need anything just ask." Talida just kept staring away from Madison. "Yeah, I'll do that." Talida was relieved that Madison left. But not so when she saw her talking to Tori and Sakura. She had a feeling they were talking about her when they looked at her. 'Uh huh.'

She sighed and walked along the fence away from them. Talida went down some stairs and turned a corner to see a tree. She sat down under the shade and stared upwards not knowing what to do next with her back against the fence.

Behind her in the other school yard was a picnic table. A boy with grey hair and glasses sat down to have lunch, his lunch bag was huge. Talida was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice anyone was near her. "Hello." Talida didn't respond, she thought he was talking about someone else. "I said hello, you are new are you not?" Talida came back to reality and turned round. "Who are you?"

"I'm Julian Star, and you are Adilat Deer I believe." Talida looked suspiciously at the boy. "Don't look at me like that; I'm not a mind reader. Tori told me all about you."

"Like what?" Talida said still looking suspicious. "Only what I said." Talida looked neutral again and stared at him. "Oh."

"So." Julian said taking a huge sandwich out of his bag. "Tell me about yourself. Do you live near here?" Talida nodded. "With you family?" Talida turned cold and looked away. "I think a quick change of subject would do well about now." Julian looked guilty and frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry." She looked at Julian and for some reason it hurt her to see him like this. She still looked sad but managed to say. "Don't worry about it." Talida thought it strange as to how Julian made her feel so relaxed.

She studied his bag and contents. He ate one large piece of food after the other and Talida was wondering where he put it all. "That's a lot to eat." Julian smiled after he swallowed noisily. "I know, but I'm always hungry."

"I'd hate to see how much you would engulf at an all you can eat buffet." Julian sniggered, unable to laugh for all the food in his mouth. "It's amazing you're not as huge as your bag." Julian smiled and Talida smiled back. But then Julian pointed something out after he eventually finished his lunch that made Talida feel edgy. "Is that a necklace?" Talida realised he spotted her chain. "Yeah, my father gave it to me…before he died."

Just then the bell rang and Julian knew he had said something wrong. Talida looked sad when she left and he felt like kicking himself.

The next lesson was P.E and Talida did some gymnastics along with Sakura. The cheerleading squad looked impressed and wondered if Alidat would like to join them. Nikki went up to her when she finished a triple back flip. "Hi I'm Nikki and I was wondering if you would like to join the cheerleading squad." Nikki pointed out a picture on the wall with Sakura, Rita and herself in their uniforms. "No offence but I really can't see myself wearing that." She said in a rude way and Nikki looked highly offended. She straightened her glasses as she returned to Sakura and Rita. "So?"

"She's so rude!" Nikki told them what Talida said about the uniforms. "What makes her so high and mighty?" Sakura and Rita didn't know what to say about this and just looked at each other.

Chelsea tried to talk to Talida at cooking class. "Hi." Talida didn't say high back and just muttered. "Hmm." Chelsea knew she was dealing with a tough customer and broke out her secret weapon. A cuddly bear by the name of Mr. Biggelsworth. Talida looked sickened at his little poker dot bow and fuzzy appearance. "I think he would like you to be his friend as much as mine." Sakura and Madison watched as Talida said something that made Chelsea stuff her bear quickly back in to her bag and moved over to them looking very angry.

Sakura and Madison looked concerned and asked what happened. "Nikki is right! That girl is impossible!"

"What did she say to you?" Chelsea looked very angry and didn't know if she could repeat it. "I said 'Mr. Biggelsworth would like you to be his friend as much as mine.' Then she says 'I think Mr. Biggelsworth would prefer it if he committed suicide in the microwave.' Which person in their right mind would want to do that to a teddy bear?" Sakura and Madison looked at each other before averting their eyes to Talida. Talida looked back for a second before getting back to her cake.

Zachary heard about how Talida was causing a stir and tried to give Talida one of his lectures. Nikki and Chelsea were there too. "I'm head of the class council and notice that you are new here but I've been getting complaints about you."

"Your point being?" Zachary didn't like the way Talida said that but wasn't about to back down. "If you want any friends then you should try to act civil towards people and try not to offend them."

"So you want me to pretend to be something I'm not. I speak my mind Zachary, that's just the way I am, and if people don't like it then they can just stay out of my way." Zachary looked a little put out about this and didn't know how to respond. "Forget it Zachary, if that's the way she feels then we should just leave."

"That's the most intelligent thing I've heard all day." Chelsea, Nikki and Zachary looked angry and walked away talking about her. Talida didn't care, this is what she wanted and that's what she got.

At the end of the day she was walking past the lockers when Sakura herself tried to get through to Talida. "I heard what you did today." Talida sighed. "And I suppose your going to try and make me apologise too?" Sakura shook her head with no trace of a smile upon her face. "Why are you treating us like this?"

"What business is it of yours?"

"I know how hard it is to loose someone very close to you. My mother died too." Talida turned round. "You just don't give up do you? Did you loose your father too?" Sakura shook her head. "Your uncle?" Sakura shook her head again. "Well then you have no idea how lucky you are Sakura. Good bye, oh, and do please try to keep out of my business." Talida felt something as she walked away from Sakura. 'So she has the same type of magic surrounding her like it did my uncle. That Julian guy has something too, but what it is I'm not so sure about.'

Over her learning holiday she had quite a fondness for modern day sports. Talida already knew how to swim and ride a horse but some things in the modern world captured her heart. Ice skating, parachuting and snowboarding, but her favourite was skate boarding. She skated to school and did the same on the way out.

She went to the outdoor skate park and enjoyed herself there. But this attracted some unwelcome attention from a small gang of older skaters. They went to Tori's school and didn't like the fact a complete stranger started skating at the park. The other skaters didn't really mind her being there but that didn't matter to them. She was getting better far too quickly for a girl her age and they wanted her to pay. Before she came they were the most renowned and respected skaters in the park. Some of the bigger skaters told them to back off from Talida but were easily out numbered.

Today she performed a great trick getting a round of people banging their boards on the ground to applaud her. That tore it for the gang so they chased her out of the park but that wasn't enough. They wanted a piece of her and chased her all around town.

Julian, Sakura and Madison were walking around town. Julian looked worried when he heard about what Talida did today. They heard some shouting coming from the top of the hill and Talida was coming down it very fast with the gang behind her.

A truck was passing the bottom of the hill. Talida went even faster and seemed to be on a collision course with it. Madison called out and Sakura had her necklace in her hand. However Talida didn't hit the truck. She used it to her advantage and jumped through the space in between the cab and the cargo. It was so quick that the driver didn't notice her even being there.

Talida went straight down the road in front of Sakura and the others. She didn't see the looks on their faces; they were astounded she didn't kill herself by making that little stunt. The gang were cut off by the truck and they lost her.

Over the week she still didn't want any friends and just wanted to be alone. The gang chased her everyday after school through the town. She stopped going to the skate park and found that the whole town was a skate park in itself. But the gang was still annoyed and waited for her after school. She didn't need to use magic and just used her skills to loose them. She succeeded in loosing them everyday and felt great satisfaction every time.

The weekend proved to be less fruitful. She was practicing her fighting skills against Winston and noticed a presence after she performed a tricky move. Sakura and Madison were standing by the gate with impressed looks upon their faces. Winston followed her gaze. "Friends from school?"

"Not really. Just see what they want and let them leave." Talida disappeared in to the house and Winston came over to the two girls standing by the gate. "May I help you young ladies?" Sakura and Madison were holding on to a basket with an assortment of things inside it. "We have a welcoming basket for Adilat."

"She would like that. I'd let you in for tea but we cannot entertain today I'm afraid."

"That's ok, we only came to drop this off and say high." Winston looked curiously at Sakura before smiling at them. The girls left and he took the basket in to the house.

Talida was sitting in the dark again staring in to the fire place. She had her face in her hands. "Must you sit in darkness? It's so depressing."

"It helps me to think."

"About what?" Talida sighed and removed her hands from her face. "Life."

"Life?" She looked away from her staring point and rubbed her eyes. "Never mind." Winston came around the chair and plopped the welcome basket on a coffee table in front of her. "What is that?"

"The young ladies said it was called a welcome basket." Talida leaned forward to get a better look at the assorted items. "Oh, that was nice of them." Winston looked confused. "You're not happy?"

"Don't get me wrong Winston I think it's great but I really don't want any friends. Just want to be left alone. You are the only one I really want around me. You and…mum, dad, Uncle Clow, Yue and Kiro. I miss them so much it hurts to think about them sometimes."

"But Talida, they are closer than you think." Now it was Talida's turn to look confused. "Huh?" Winston knew she didn't get it so he sat beside her and explained. "You carry memories of them and their love for you. Those that are gone aren't actually lost if you remember them." Talida smiled and stared out the window. "Thanks Winston."

When Monday came round she went up to Sakura and Madison. Their other friends walked away whilst they stayed put. "I just wanna say thanks for the basket." They smiled and looked annoyingly cheerful, but this time Talida kept her mouth shut. "No problem. We're going shopping after school, wanna come?" Talida turned away and thought about this. 'Whoa, that was too fast! I don't want any friends. When will they understand this?' But instead she said. "Can't, I'm busy after school."

Sakura and Madison looked a little put down. "Oh…well maybe some other time then." Talida sighed. "Yeah, sure." Talida walked away and went to class.

"She seems so sad. Sakura?" Sakura looked like she was in deep thought about something. "Did you see where she lived Madison?"

"Yeah, and she has the same hair colour as Eli. Do you think?" Sakura looked suspicious now. "She could be like him? Maybe, but if she is then she ain't telling."

Talida took her classes and went outside alone after lunch. She preferred it that way and didn't talk to anyone. She sat in the same spot again to reflect on things running around her head.

"Back again Alidat?" Talida didn't turn this time and just looked up. "Likewise Julian."

"Hey I'm here too you know." Tori protested behind her. For a while she just sat there listening to Tori and Julian talking about nothing important. Talida closed her eyes and smiled. She hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. But then something caught Tori's eye. "There's a spider on your shoulder Alidat." Talida turned to see a large spider looking right at her. She picked it up and examined the eight legged passenger. "Hmm, a daddy longlegs. Big, but not as big as a tarantula."

"You're not scared?" Tori asked looking curious. "Did you expect me to run around screaming until it jumped off in fright Tori? If you informed me for that then you are a very mean person." Julian smiled and Tori glared at her. "Are you cold?" Talida shrugged her shoulders at Julian's question. "Is that why you wear that coat?"

"I guess." Talida said as she let the spider run across her hands. The bell rang and she put the spider on the tree.

Tori and Julian also made tracks back to their school. "That girl's very strange." Tori said with a slightly miffed look on his face. "Sakura told me where she lives."

"I wonder what Yue would think about that." Tori whispered casting a wary eye towards Julian. "He thinks she's strange as well. We are wondering if she has any magic like Sakura." Only Talida, Winston and Eli had the answer to that question.

Talida was very careful not to use any magic beyond her house. (Unless it was an emergency). But so far there have been very few reasons to use it at all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

** Forgotten**

Later that month Talida awoke to a very bad feeling in the air. She had never felt this before and didn't like it. Talida opened her window and the cold night air invaded the warmth of her room. She went out in to the garden and took her form. Talida didn't know if she would be recognised so she added a face mask to it.

Talida flew deep in to town from where the feeling seemed to originate. There were tall blocks of flats and a tall tower painted red. On one of the roofs she saw something that made her heart stop. The guardians she knew for a short time in her life were bound together with rings of darkness. She saw a shadowy figure chasing after Madison whilst dodging Sakura's attacks. Yue and Kiro were telling her which card to use. 'So that's where my uncle's cards have ended up.' Talida thought as Sakura struck a card with her staff.

That's when Madison was knocked off the roof. Sakura tried to get to her friend but the figure was holding her at bay. Then a huge dark bird dived past the roof and caught Madison. Well at least that's what Sakura thought. It was only when Talida slowed down could Sakura and the others make her out. She hovered above them with Madison in her arms. The guardians, Sakura and even the shadowy figure stopped to take a look at the new player in town.

They weren't the only ones to notice Talida's presence either. Someone was lurking in the shadows of a building observing the battle. 'Who are you I wonder?' This person unlike Talida didn't want to be known just yet and stayed put.

When Talida took Madison out of harms way did the battle start again. She put Madison on a roof facing the building. By this time Sakura had used the light card to destroy the shadow and the bonds disappeared around the guardians.

They went over to the roof where Madison was looking curiously at Talida. Sakura and the guardians looked up to see Talida standing on top of a brick wall looking down on them. "Who is she Yue?"

"I don't know. Her wings are like that of a falcon's unlike ours. We'll have no chance of catching her on the wing, you can tell because the feathers are tightly packed in to the wing's structure and streamlined." Sakura looked interested at making a new magical friend and wanted to take a closer look. "I'm going up there."

"She's keeping her distance so she'll run if you get closer." But Sakura wasn't listening and came closer to Talida who was listening to the conversation. Just like Yue said Talida started to jump across the roofs away from Sakura. "Hey! Wait! I just wanna talk to you!" Sakura gave chase and proved to be just as fast.

They jumped and ran across the roof tops with the guardians flying right behind Sakura. Talida may have had a head start but Sakura was determined and the gap started to close. 'I don't need this!' Talida thought irritably.

She took to the air and zoomed upwards to the clouds above. Sakura did the same but Talida proved to be too fast. Yue and Kiro saved their energy by flying slower and eventually caught up to Sakura who was having a hard time communicating with Talida. Each time she moved closer Talida zipped to the other side of Sakura to keep well out of reach.

It was then that Yue noticed her staff and wanted to get closer as well. Talida had just about enough of Sakura's advances and flashed Clow's sign in front of her like a shield as a warning. Sakura understood and went over to Yue for some advice. Talida looked curiously at Yue to see if he recognised her at all. "Stay there, I'll be back soon I promise." Sakura stopped in front of Yue and he looked at her. "I'm trying to see if she'll join us."

"Drifters come and go; I don't see any reason why she wouldn't be one of them. You never know whether they are good or bad so you have to be careful around them."

"I don't think saving Madison's life counts her as being evil Yue."

"Just don't get your hopes up."

"I won't." Sakura and Yue went over to Talida who hadn't moved. They came to a stop when Talida moved away. "What's your name?" Talida didn't answer and just looked curiously at Yue. 'You don't recognise me?' She observed Sakura and Yue with great curiosity.

"Are you a drifter?" Talida shook her head. "Are you a friend or foe?" Talida looked from one to the other before shaking her head. "Neither?" Talida nodded in reply. 'Still so suspicious about everyone Yue? I feel you have become colder since I've last seen you my friend. Oh well, it's not like I'm surprised by the change in you."

It was then that Madison and Kiro had come closer as well. "I told you to wait behind Kiro!" Yue said in an angry tone of voice. "Madison wants to thank the stranger for saving her life."

"Hey Sakura, she's no older than us." Talida didn't do anything and just observed them from a safe distance. 'Kiro too? A double wami? Uncle Clow you have some explaining to do!'

For a minute they were trying to think about what to say to Talida. But Madison had something to say. "Thanks for saving me." She said with a smile. Talida turned her head to Madison and did a little bow. Yue and Kiro still weren't sure about Talida but the girls seemed to like her. Talida was hurt that her friends didn't recognise her and took off Yue's ring. She wouldn't need it if he didn't remember her.

She held it in her hand and opened it pointed towards Yue. He saw the ring sparkle in the moonlight and had no trouble remembering that. Yue came closer whilst Talida stayed put. He took the ring and Talida immediately darted away out of reach. He looked puzzled as he examined his ring with great interest. "I thought I lost this a long time ago. Where did you get this?" Talida stayed silent and decided to talk with motions and hand gestures. First she pointed to herself before putting a finger to her lips. Yue didn't think it was good enough and lunged at her. Talida flapped her wings and quickly zipped away. 'I think I've out stayed my welcome.'

Talida flew along the clouds at such a speed that they parted before her. Then she flew up and did a nose dive in to them. They swirled down above her and then, she was gone.

"Nice going Yue." Sakura scolded looking at the point where Talida had dived.

But Talida wasn't finished with them yet. She wanted to find out who the guardians were and stayed at a distance where they would not be able to sense her presence.

She followed them as they flew down to the park and landed. She couldn't believe what she saw next and wondered what other surprises they had in store. Kiro took his temporary form and flew in to Sakura's bag. But it was the person Yue turned in to that grabbed her attention the most. 'What the hell?' She watched as Yue turned in to Julian who smiled at them.

They split up and walked down different paths. Talida followed Julian at a distance to his house. She hid behind a tree when he felt a presence and looked around. She saw him disappear in to his house and couldn't believe that Julian was Yue.

Julian had just opened his window to see Talida's form flying away. 'Who are you?' He thought as he got ready for bed.

Talida landed before her window and felt someone was in her room. Winston was looking right at her with his arms folded looking a bit angry. "So this is what you've been doing tonight? You do know school starts in six hours?" Talida took off her disguise and told Winston what she saw. Then he changed from looking angry to understanding in a short time. "Well…try not to get hurt."

"I won't." Talida looked out the window and held her pendant now without the ring. 'Too late Winston, I've been hurt more than you realise. The ones that I once call friends have forgotten me. It was as though I never existed to them. You say no one really dies if you remember them. I do but they don't…so what does that mean?'

The next day she went to school on her board cruising down the road. She wasn't looking where she was going and nearly ran in to Sakura as she passed her. Talida was so lost she didn't even notice Sakura was there. Sakura did but wasn't effected by her close call. A thought had just passed in to her mind as well. 'Are you the one who saved Madison last night?'

It was only natural that Talida should be suspected. She was the new girl and is living in the house where Clow Reed once lived. So it only made sense if she was the person with wings they saw last night.

Talida was more distant today than before and this made Sakura grow even more suspicious. In class she and Madison were looking at her strangely. In the end Talida snapped. "What?" She asked a little louder than she meant to. The teacher heard her and did not look pleased. "Miss. Deer, when I'm trying to teach a lesson I expect no one to talk. I'll see you after school." Talida sighed and got on with her work.

At lunch she made sure no one could find her. She climbed up the tree and sat in its branches well out of view. Even Julian didn't know she was up there until she moved and snapped a twig. He looked up and stopped eating. "You'll get in to trouble being up there."

"I've already got detention after school so what's the point in behaving?" Julian looked curious. "Detention?"

"Nothing important."

Later Sakura and Madison showed up. They didn't know Talida was there and she put a finger to her lips before Julian stopped looking at her. "Have you seen Alidat?" Julian knew she didn't want to be found so he shook his head. "We got her in to trouble by looking at her so much she spoke out and out and our teacher heard her. We want to apologise for suspecting her of being the one we saw last night." Julian made hush sound and Sakura covered her mouth realising her mistake. "You never know who is listening." Julian and Yue still weren't sure about Talida so they decided to keep quiet about their secrets.

Talida however seemed unfazed by the conversation and pretended she didn't know what they were talking about or even care. When the girls left she breathed a sigh of relief. But then noticed that Julian had the same look curious look on his face the girls had in class. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Julian asked hoping it seemed innocent. "Like you think you know something about me." Julian now looked less innocent and almost challenging. "What do I know?" Talida scowled and looked positively threatening. "Don't play mind games with me! You won't last long."

The bell rang and Talida made a hasty retreat back to class. Julian didn't like this and had a chat with Yue in his head. "Do you think she's like us?" Julian asked, Yue opened his eyes and looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure. She looks as though she's innocent but could be pretending. But why she would hide from us is the question. If she is who we think she is then she knows us and has no reason to fear us."

"This is indeed a mystery. One that will be solved in the end, if I understand the way this seems to work." Yue looked very curious to know what Julian meant. "The way what works?"

"Never mind." Julian stopped talking to Yue and became one person again.

Talida served her detention writing fifty lines. 'I must not talk in class.' Which was frightfully dull and knew she wouldn't make the same mistake again. She finally left the classroom to see Sakura, Tori, Julian and Madison waiting by the gates. She had a bad feeling they were waiting for her. Talida decided to escape by climbing over a wall. She succeeded in not being seen and would never moan about Winston training her in evasion ever again.

She skated to the park and ended up in the heart of it. A circle of asphalt sparkled in the sunlight and a tree surrounded by a short fence resided in the middle of it. She skidded to a halt when she saw the skater gang were there. They noticed her immediately and formed a circle around her. Talida felt like the tree and knew things were going to get rough.

They had menacing looks on their faces and she waited for them to attack. Then one rushed at her and she used a move to throw him in to the others like skittles. There were ten altogether and she had managed to take four of them out. 'Four down, six to go.' She did the same with the rest of them with only one left. But this one knew how to fight and was the leader, they called him grinder.

Talida and Grinder fought for ten minutes straight whilst the others tried to recover. They were getting tired by this time and were on their last legs. But one of the other members of the gang was on his feet and heading towards Talida with a board in his hands. Talida noticed this a second too late and used her left forearm to block the attack. But the boy hit it down on her arm with such force she thought it had been broken. She didn't make a sound and kicked him in the stomach. Then she finished off grinder and the skaters ran away.

When they were gone she fell to her knees clutching her arm in agony. It throbbed painfully but thankfully wasn't broken. She knew what a break felt like and this wasn't it, but she knew that her arm would be heavily bruised and sore tomorrow.

A few minutes later Julian was on his way home through the park and saw Talida on the ground. She looked hurt and silent tears were rolling down her face. Yue didn't think this was a good idea but Julian was here now so he took charge. He went over to her and saw where she was hurt. "What happened?" He asked with his voice full of concern. Talida pulled herself together and stopped crying. "Nothing, nothing at all. I just f-fell off my board." She reached down for her board and Julian touched her arm. "OW! What the hell did you do that for?"

"Come with me, that arm needs to be looked at and my house is nearer than yours." Talida stepped back and looked very defensive. "I don't need any help!" Julian looked cautiously at Talida. "Why?" Talida became lost and confused. She tried to find a good reason but came out with something pathetic instead. "I-I just don't ok!"

The next thing Julian knew Talida was speeding down the path on her board as fast as she could. Her arm was folded across her chest with a pained expression on her face. Yue was really suspicious about her now, he was thinking she knew something and Julian agreed. "We should keep a very watchful eye on her from now on. I'll ask Kiro to see if she's alright later."

"Is that concern Yue?" Yue glared at Julian and turned away. "I was only teasing."

"Very amusing." Yue said in a sarcastic sort of way. Julian smiled awkwardly and nothing more was said.

Later that night Yue had asked Kiro to see if Talida was alright. Kiro was in his temporary form and could easily take a look through the window. He saw Winston tending to her arm. It was very red and started to turn a deep shade of purple. Winston placed a wet cloth on it and Talida breathed in quickly through her teeth hissing with pain. Tears were rolling down her face and Winston stroked her head. She hadn't told anyone about what really happened and kept it that way.

Kiro went back to Yue and told him what was happening in Sakura's room. "She said she fell off her board."

"You don't believe her?" Sakura asked. "No. I believe that she was attacked."

"By who?" Yue didn't know and Kiro didn't hear Talida say anything else. "She's strong I'll give her that, but if she gets attacked again then who knows what might happen."

"I'll keep an eye on her at night when Julian goes to sleep. I can't do much more than that."

"I'll try to walk home with her everyday." Sakura looked angry and so did the guardians. "I still think she's like us, I don't care if she doesn't want any friends. She'll get them whether she likes it or not." Yue flew out of the window and kept watch over Talida's house that night. Talida knew someone was there but was in too much pain to care about it. He was directly over Talida's room and could hear her crying herself to sleep. She clutched her arm and held it close to her body.

The next day she had a bandage on her arm hidden under her jumper. When she sat down she knew Julian must've told the girls about her injury. They looked very concerned but Talida shook her head telling them not to be. She kept her bruised arm out of harms way and went to places to be alone.

At lunch she didn't go to the tree this time and Julian waited for her. Sakura and Madison were there too but still Talida didn't come. "Do you think she went home?" Madison asked. Sakura shook her head. "It's like Yue said. She's strong and we know she doesn't like to show any weaknesses so I don't think she left school."

Talida had gone to the library at lunch and became very bored. She decided to do something when she was sure no one else was around her. She sat down and began to draw one picture after another of her memories. They involved Clow, Yue, Kiro, Sakura and Madison that night on the roof tops. She drew pictures of Julian, Tori, Madison and Sakura in their everyday lives. These were placed on top to cover the other pictures.

When the bell rang Talida kept her head down not looking at Sakura and Madison. The next lesson unfortunately had to be P.E and that meant wearing a t-shirt. This revealed her bandage and made the girls even more concerned. Nikki and Chelsea still didn't like her but weren't completely heartless and looked concerned as well.

The teacher wanted to keep her out of it due to her arm but Talida was having none of it. She matched Sakura's standards in gymnastics with her arm throbbing something awful by the end of it. She didn't cry and didn't allow it to slow her down.

The next section was to learn how to use a trampoline. That's when something that the teacher feared would happen. Rita was in front of Talida and tried to get on the trampoline which was quite high off the ground. She fell off and Talida had to save her. But this meant using both arms and Rita fell right on top of them. This time she couldn't shake it off and clutched her arm in pain after another act of heroism.

"I think you should stop now before you cause yourself some permanent damage." Sakura said as she helped Talida to her feet. "Why are you helping me?"

"You may not want help but it's the right thing to do." Talida sighed as Sakura helped her out of the lesson. They went to the changing room and changed back in to their clothes.

Talida opened her bag and the pictures fell out. Talida froze as Sakura looked at them. "These are very good. Do me and Madison really smile that much?" Talida nodded. Sakura looked at the others of her friends in their everyday lives. But then Talida noticed that the next picture was going to be one of Kiro and Yue. "The rest are spare sheets of paper." She quickly lied and Sakura returned them.

At the end of the day Talida heard the teacher announce tomorrow the whole day would be spent in the town gardens. They would be taking a coach and some of the students in the school next door would be coming too. Sakura groaned when she heard Tori was coming. Talida was relieved that none of the skater gang would be coming and decided to go.

When Talida left the school she quickly cruised down the road hoping not to run in to Sakura and her friends. But Sakura had her blades on and quickly caught up with her. "Alidat, wait up!" She called and Talida slowed down. "Yeah?"

"How's your arm?" Talida glanced at her arm which still hurt. "Fine." Talida and Sakura had a very short conversation when they reached the cross roads. Sakura did most of the talking whilst Talida said a word or two. She wondered why Sakura was so adamant about being her friend. Talida didn't want any but just couldn't shake Sakura off no matter how hard she tried. In the end she gave up and just let Sakura skate beside her on the way home.

But when they passed the cross roads the skater gang spotted her again. "THERE SHE IS!" One member cried. "GET HER!" Grinder ordered sending in the gang towards the two girls. "What's going on?" Talida smiled. "Nothing I can't handle." Sakura looked frightened at the angry looking skaters heading their way fast. "But-"

"Don't worry; I do this for fun everyday." Sakura stared after her in disbelief as the skater gang passed her. Talida zoomed off with the skater gang hot on her tail.

Tori, Julian and Madison ran up to Sakura looking worried. "What's going on? Are you ok?" Tori asked his little sister who was still staring after Talida. "Their after Alidat."

"Why?" Madison asked looking just as worried as Tori. "I don't know, but she said she does this everyday…for fun."

"If I've said this once I'll say it again, but that girl is very strange."

"Tori!" Sakura said looking angry. "What? It's true, she's weird." Tori turned to Julian but he wasn't there. He had turned in to Yue and was keeping tabs on Talida's run through the town. She held on to a tram that was going up a very steep hill. The skater gang couldn't keep up and gave up when she skated down the other side of it. 'Well done.' Yue thought as he landed on a building above her.

He kept watch over her house at night but didn't feel the need to. He now knew who hurt her but kept an eye on her house that night just in case. Nothing happened again so he decided not to come back at night anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**The Town's Gardens**

Talida wasn't looking forward to the next day. It came quickly and she was on the coach before she knew it. In the school she could hide from her class mates but in the gardens she would have to be around people all day. She went to the back and sat on her own, she liked it that way but wasn't alone for long. Julian was the only one left without a seat and Talida was annoyed he sat next to her. But she let him sit there without any protest, it was either that or he would have to stand and the trip took an hour even on a good day. Tori was sitting beside Sakura and they were trying very hard not to argue.

At first Talida just stared out the window on the way to the gardens. She saw the skater gang in the school looking at her. They were kicking themselves that not one of them had signed up to go to the gardens and torment her. Julian and Tori made sure that no one told the gang about the trip so Talida would be safe.

"How's your arm?" Julian asked looking at it with concern. Talida saw this and used her coat to hide it from Julian's eyes. "Fine."

"Did you loose the gang yesterday?" Talida nodded. "How?" Talida sighed and told her story. Julian already knew what happened but had to pretend to be interested. "I hitched a ride on a tram to the top of a hill. They couldn't keep up and I skated down the other side before they even reached the top."

"That's clever." Talida shrugged her shoulders and for a while silence was all that could be heard between them.

The coach hit a speed bump and a bag from the shelf above fell off. It missed Julian but managed to hit Talida right on her left arm. She gritted her teeth so she wouldn't cry out in pain and breathed heavily clutching her arm. Julian put the bag on the floor and gently took Talida's arm in his hands. He had a bandage in his little first aid box just in case anything like this would happen. He pulled back her sleeve and bandage to see Talida's bruise was darker in colour. "It's okay to cry you know."

"Who said I was gonna cry?" Talida said defensively. "This really should be looked at. You should get rid of that board in case you injure yourself again." Talida looked away. "It's the only thing that keeps me safe from the gang."

"But your injury-"

"It wasn't from falling off my board ok, I lied!" Julian tried to look curious whilst he thought 'gotcha!' Talida sighed. "It was the gang that did it. They cornered me and I had to fight them. I was surrounded but held my own, until one got behind me with his board raised over his head. I managed to block his strike with my arm and thought he had broken it. But I know what that feels like. They ran away with a few scrapes and bruises whilst I left with this."

Julian looked angry. "You should report this." Talida looked amused and rolled her eyes. "There's no point, they'd only deny it and there were no witnesses." Julian took out a bandage and made a better support for her arm. "That should help you today." Talida studied her new support. "Thanks." Talida said looking ashamed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry for talking to you the way I did after it happened."

"You were angry, it's perfectly understandable." Talida looked at Julian's smiling face and smiled back. "So what do you think Yue?" Julian was talking in his mind again. "I'm not sure. She diffidently has something familiar but I can't remember it." Then the coach had reached its destination and Julian was back to normal.

When they got off the coach sketch pads were being handed out. "There is going to be a little competition. Everyone is to choose a spot to draw in the gardens. Whoever captures the beauty of the gardens will receive a prize by the end of the day. There is also an archery field, if anyone is interested then please stay here." Sakura and Madison were excited whilst Tori rolled his eyes. Talida watched the two girls run off together whilst she stayed behind. It had been a while since she last shot an arrow and would like to do it again.

Tori and Julian were also staying behind. Chelsea and Zachary were also interested in the archery field.

When everyone was sure about what they were doing they were led to the field. Julian already knew how to do this and shot his arrow in the middle. He helped Tori and the others who didn't know what to do. But when he reached Talida she had already shot an arrow and people were staring at the target. Julian turned to see she had split his arrow right down the middle. Now Julian stared and Talida rolled her eyes. "Good shot." He said thinking she must have some magic ability now. "Thanks." Talida said in a dull way.

"How did you learn to shoot like that?" Talida turned away and looked sad. "I had a great teacher."

Chelsea still didn't like Talida and was the only one who made a snobby comment about it. "Huh, lucky shot. I bet she can't do that again."

"Is that a challenge?" Talida asked looking mysterious all of a sudden. Talida picked up another arrow and tilted the bow to one side a bit before letting the arrow fly. It split her previously fired arrow down the middle confirming Julian's suspicions about her. Talida looked at Chelsea who was staring with her mouth hanging open. "Now I would do that again, but I don't want to be thought of as a show off now do I?" Talida put the bow back down and started to walk off.

"Where're you going?" Chelsea asked commandingly. Talida didn't stop and just answered Chelsea with. "I'm going to draw a stupid picture!"

Julian tried to follow her but she was quick to loose him in a green house. This greenhouse housed flowers that bloomed at night and was therefore quite dark. But not too dark so you couldn't see the flowers and plants. She watched him closely as he smelled the flowers. He was coming nearer to her hiding place and there was no where to escape.

But then Julian started to sniff and his eyes watered. Talida realised she was sitting next to the same white flowers that made Yue sneeze all those years ago. Yue was talking to Julian inside his mind again and was also sniffing. "Yue? What's…going on?" Julian asked as he came to a complete stop beside the flowers. "I'm allergic … to those flowers beside you … for a reason."

"What?" Julian asked who as well as Yue were now on the point of sneezing. "You'll…find…out…later." Yue said in between deep shuddering breaths. Julian turned and was about to walk away when Yue told him to stop. "What?" The sneezy feeling started to leave Julian and he was feeling quite relieved. "Alidat is somewhere near you."

Blinded by wanting to find out the truth Yue made Julian brush past the flowers. Unfortunately this caused the pollen to leave as a cloud and rise up. Julian stopped as the urge to sneeze became too great. He had just enough time to take out his handkerchief and covered his face with it. "Haphhh…hmmpphh…hammpphh!" Talida saw this as her chance and ran out of the green house. Julian didn't see her and sneezed for a good few minutes before finally leaving the green house.

He sniffed and sneezed every now and again but Alidat had gone. Tori found him later and they walked around the garden.

Talida was sure Julian knew something about her but didn't let on that she knew anything about him. As she walked around she saw the others sitting in groups or pairs drawing their pictures and having a great time. She hid when she saw Julian and Tori walking by and crept even deeper in to her hiding place as Julian stopped to sneeze again. "You ok Julian?" Julian blew his nose and sniffed. "I ran in to some flowers earlier, I think I'm…heh…asshoo… allergic to them."

"No kidding." Tori said as they moved on.

When Talida looked in front of her from her hiding place she saw a lake. It reflected everything around it perfectly and was so still it made her relax. She drew the spot and even put a few of her class mates in it too. But Talida hid her picture, she didn't want the prize and to be deemed an artist by her class mates.

She was on her own for hours. A memory crept in to her mind when she spied a tree covered in cherry blossom. It was her first memory of ever going to her uncle's house and one she wasn't likely to forget. 'Again.' She added in a tired sort of way.

It was the day after Talida's fifth birthday. Her father and mother thought it was time to let her see Clow Reed. She knew about the magic her parents and herself held but didn't know about her uncle. "I have an uncle?" Her father nodded with a smile on his face. "Your mother and I are going there for the weekend, and you're coming too." Talida looked very excited and had a smile on her face all the way there.

They came to a stop beside his house. She could feel something and had a very strange look on her face. "What is it?" Her mother asked. "There's a lot of magic in there." Her mother smiled. "You're right Talida, and you'll see much more when your inside."

In the back garden Yue and Kiro were waiting for the family to arrive. Kiro loved the idea but Yue wasn't so sure. "What if she tells her friends?"

"She and her parents are magic themselves remember. She may be young but she knows not to tell anyone about her secret life." Kiro scolded Yue who still looked unsure about this.

In the house Talida and her parents had entered and met Clow Reed. Talida hid behind her parents not being too sure about this herself. The feelings were growing stronger making her feel very uncomfortable. But her uncle smiled at her and she felt better after she was introduced. "The last time I saw you was when you were a tiny baby. But you've grown a lot since then." Talida smiled and her parents breathed a sigh of relief.

Later her parents left Clow and herself in a room. This room held strange looking things and pictures of even weirder things. Nothing really grabbed her attention until she saw one of Kiro, beside him was a picture of Yue. Her uncle saw this and smiled. He took down the picture of Yue and gave it to Talida who looked curiously at the picture. Yue was standing beside the open door to hear. "Is he an angel?" Clow Reed had a smile on his face and held back a few laughs. Yue growled as he went back to the garden. "No, he's a guardian and I don't think he'll like it if you called him that." Talida nodded and kept that in mind.

Kiro looked up to see Yue looking a bit angry. "So?" Yue fought back the growl in his throat as he answered Kiro. "She asked if I was an angel." The sun guardian didn't hold back a long, loud belly laugh that seemed to make Yue even angrier. "It's not funny!" Yue growled. Kiro stopped laughing and sighed. "Your form is that of a human and you have wings. She's only five years old, what is she supposed to think?" Yue looked away with an annoyed 'hmph' before walking away.

Talida met Kiro later and was a little shy at first. But when Kiro rubbed his head on her did she feel more confident. Yue kept hidden, he still hadn't forgiven her for the little question in the room. However he had to admit that Kiro had a point, she was only five years old after all.

All the excitement had taken its toll on the little girl. She lay down on one of Kiro's front legs and fell asleep. Yue sat beside Kiro and observed the sleeping child. She had a smile on her face and so did Kiro. "Why so distant?" He asked Yue who didn't take his eyes off Talida. "How was she when you met her?" Kiro looked over to him. "She wasn't a giggly little nuisance if that's what you mean. In fact she was a little shy at first, but she didn't pet me like a common garden cat when I got to know her." Talida stirred but didn't wake.

Later her parents found her with the two guardians fast asleep. "So she's met you I see." Her father said with a smile on his face. He looked so much like Clow that Kiro nearly forgot he was Clow's brother. "She hasn't met Yue yet and is very grown up for her age. She's been a little angle." He glanced at Yue who frowned.

Her mother stood beside her father and smiled too. Dina Reed took the site deep in to her soul. Her hair was light brown and had green eyes which sparkled like emeralds in the moonlight. "I think we'd better take sleeping beauty to bed." She picked up Talida and carried her back to the house.

Yue was still not sure about meeting Talida and Kiro had already done the hard part. The next day came too quickly in his opinion and still didn't want to meet the child. He kept well out of the way and watched Talida playing a game of tag in the garden. Then she played a game which involved a blindfold. She had to find Kiro by only the sound of his voice then it would be his turn.

Kiro was having a great time until he saw Yue come out of his hiding place. "Go to her." He whispered and Yue complied. Talida had her arms outstretched and was going in circles calling Kiro's name.

Then she stepped back and bumped in to Yue. "Kiro?" She turned and felt Yue's robe in her hands. "No." She said as she walked around Yue and felt his long hair brush against her hands. "What long hair you've got. I give up." Yue crouched in front of her as she tried to remove the blindfold. "I can't get this off, can you help me please?" Yue removed the blindfold and the light instantly hit Talida's eyes. She put up a hand to shade her eyes against the sunlight. Yue looked right at her not sure what to say. "So you're Yue, nice to meet you." Yue nodded.

Talida saw Kiro and smiled. "Now it's your turn Kiro, unless you want to play Yue." Talida looked cautiously at Yue and so did Kiro. "I don't play games."

"That's ok; it works better with only two people anyway. The game's too easy if there are too many people playing." Kiro didn't get to put the blindfold on because Talida's parents showed up. "It's time to go home Talida."

"Aw, do we have to?" Kiro also looked a bit disappointed but Yue didn't seem to care. "Yes my little princess." Talida looked at her parents and sighed. "Bye Kiro, bye Yue. I hope to see you again soon."

Talida had gone back to the greenhouse to find out the name of the flowers. She kneeled down to see a label with a name on it. She couldn't read the Latin name so she skipped to the information. 'Also known as the moon flower. It only blooms at night when the moon is high but remains closed when the moon takes new moon form. Legend has it that it first bloomed in the heavens but was a joke by satin. At first everyone loved them until the angels started sneezing uncontrollably. So they were sent down to earth and stay here to this day. The moon flower is very rare and can be found in very few places in Japan's forests.'

Talida left the greenhouse deep in thought. 'Yue may not be angel but it has the same effect and Julian is just as vulnerable to them. I wonder if anyone else knows about this.'

It was lunch time now and Talida couldn't avoid it. The teacher was counting heads to see if everyone was at the picnic area. She sat on her own but Sakura and her friends joined her once again. They started to show each others pictures and Talida felt uncomfortable. Only when they had finished showing their pictures did they turn to Talida.

"Alidat? Have you drawn a picture?" Madison asked in a friendly way. "I don't feel like drawing." They didn't believe her and Tori looked just as suspicious as Julian. "But you're always drawing something at lunch." Talida didn't say anything else and ate her lunch. The others gave up and ate their lunch too.

But Tori spotted her sketch pad behind her back. He slowly moved behind her and opened it with out stretched fingers. He looked impressed as he gazed upon her work for a few seconds. Talida saw what he was doing and smacked a hand down closing it quickly. She put a finger to her lips and he looked confused, but he nodded just the same.

After lunch he gave Talida some advice. "You'll get in to trouble if you don't have something to show." Talida looked very uninterested. "So? It's not like I haven't been in trouble before."

"Really?" What kind of trouble?" Talida looked away. "Nothing you would find interesting." Julian looked at Talida sadly and she looked back. Then nothing more passed between them.

Later the competition was going to be closed. Talida took out her sketch pad to see her work. She was angry and started to breathe deeper and louder. Then she ripped the picture from the sketch pad and tore it in to tiny pieces. She threw them in the bin and felt less angry. She went to the others to see the winner of the competition to be announced.

"Well done for those of you that have produced a piece of work. But for the ones that hadn't bothered to will receive adequate punishments tomorrow." Tori couldn't stand by and watch Talida go down like this and had an idea.

He crept behind Talida and snatched her pad away from her. "Tori!" Sakura cried but Talida wasn't bothered at all. He showed the pad to her teacher and she took a look. "What is this?" She asked confused. Tori looked at the sketch pad to see it was empty. He looked over to Talida who winked at him. Tori took back the sketch pad and apologised for making a scene. He looked for Talida but she had gone.

Talida went back to her seat and sank down in to it. She had never felt so relieved that she destroyed the picture. Apparently Madison won the competition and received the award. She got the picture and herself in the newspaper and received a year's free pass to the gardens. Tori was going to search for Talida but was told to sit down where he sat last time. Sakura and Tori weren't happy again with the seating arrangements but didn't argue. Talida was grateful to the teacher for once, before realising she was going to sit next to Julian.

Julian sat beside her and knew he wanted to ask what was going on between her and Tori. But one look at Talida told him otherwise. She was looking out of the window and he could see her reflection looking right at him. She was angry and had a big frown on her face. She spotted Julian's reflection looking at hers and she was quick to avoid his eyes.

Talida could hear Sakura congratulating Madison on winning the competition. She didn't much care and wondered where she would go from here. When the coach stopped Tori waited for her. He took her away from the others and had a word with her. "Where's your picture?"

"I tore it up and threw it in the bin." Tori stared and looked angry. "Why? I looked like an idiot trying to save you from a punishment tomorrow."

"I didn't ask you to!" Talida said now looking as angry as Tori. She got on her board and went away from the coach as fast as she could. Talida was so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot about the skater gang. Fortunately they got tired of waiting for her to come back and left.

When she stopped to see where she was headed Talida noticed she was in the park's playground. She slowly cruised towards a swing and sat down. Her mind was going over the facts and it gave her a headache. She slowly went back and forth with her feet on her board. She was thinking of what to say to the teacher tomorrow but wanted to say something different. 'I tore it up and threw it away! No…that's not gonna work.' She was still angry at Tori's interference and wished he'd leave her alone. 'Note to self: kill Tori!'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

** Reason behind the Madness**

She remembered why she didn't want her face in the paper. It was when Talida was six and spent two weeks at Clow's house. Yue wasn't as suspicious about her as before and Kiro was glad she returned after a year.

"You've grown since I last saw you Talida." Kiro said with a smile. "You're not as big as I thought you were anymore Kiro." She turned to Yue and looked curiously at him. "Nice to see you again Yue." Yue nodded and disappeared in to the house. "Is he always like this?"

"Pretty much."

Yue grew warmer towards Talida when the days rolled by. She proved to be a fighter and a good archer. She didn't back down when Yue tested her skills with some magic and proved to be a fast learner.

By the end of the first week she and Yue weren't exactly friends but were ok together. He taught her how to fight and Kiro played games with her. The only game Yue played with Talida was chess. She found it interesting and managed to beat Yue after a couple of games. "Hee, hee." She said quietly and Yue looked less then amused. "You must learn to take a win gracefully."

"Quit being such a spoil sport, at least I didn't jump up and cry 'ha I beat you' did I? I'm six remember, not sixteen."

"No you didn't and you are very young." They reset the board and were pretty even when it came to winning. But Talida began to grow bored and decided to call it a day with the chess board. She went to find Kiro so she could really have a game. Yue was alone and walked around the garden.

Later he heard Talida screaming. He ran quickly to the scene to see Kiro roaring and growling at Talida who pretended to be scared. Yue stopped behind Talida who back up and bumped in to him. She quickly hid behind him giggling like an average girl of her age. "Help! There's a lion!" Talida yelled and Yue was curious to see Kiro pretending to be wild. "Kiro?"

"I'm not Kiro; I'm a wild lion RRROOOAARR!" Yue crossed his arms and looked serious. "Please have some dignity you're a guardian." Kiro stopped acting wild and looked angry. "Don't be such a stick in the mud Yue. She's only a kid and when was the last time you actually had any fun? You're so miserable and not to mention boring." Yue raised his eyebrows. "Boring? Ok then Kiro I'll play your silly game." Talida looked curiously at Yue as he kneeled down in front of her. "There's only one way to deal with a lion."

"What's that?"

"We shoot him with arrows." Yue pretended to fire an arrow at Kiro who in turn pretended to dodge it. "Go on." Yue said looking down at Talida. "It's your turn." Talida shook her head and looked frightened. "But…I don't wanna hurt Kiro."

Yue was trying to teach her a lesson in life and she knew it. "We're only pretending but in real life that's not Kiro. It's either you or him so what's it gonna be?" Talida looked scared in to Yue's fierce eyes. "I don't want to kill anything or anybody Yue, there must be another way." Yue took her face in his hands and looked deep in to her eyes. "Sometimes it's the only way and is best to learn sooner than later." Talida nodded.

Yue lined her up and moved her arms as if she were holding a real bow. Kiro growled and looked like he was going to pounce. She was trembling but the moon guardian held her arms steady. Talida let the invisible arrow fly and Kiro pretended it hit him in the heart. He rolled over on to his back and looked like he was dead. "Kiro!"

Talida ran over to Kiro and climbed on to his stomach. "I didn't hurt you did I?" Kiro opened one eye. "No, why do you look so concerned this is a time to celebrate." He whispered. Yue came over and put Talida on one if his shoulders. "All hale Talida the lion killer." Talida didn't like the sound of this but decided to play along.

Later they decided to play hide and seek. Surprisingly even Yue thought it would be a good thing to do. He was thinking about Talida's hiding skills but never said that. Kiro was wondering why Yue wanted to do this but just thought he was still mad that he called Yue boring. Yue was to be the seeker and counted as the other two hid from him. Kiro hid behind a nearby bush whilst Talida went even deeper in to the garden. She found herself in a dark part of the garden and saw a stone arch way in a wall. 'Ah hah.' She thought as she hid behind the arch.

Yue had finished counting and easily found Kiro behind the bush. "You should keep an eye on your tail." Kiro looked down to see his tail was on the other side of the bush in clear view of where Yue was counting.

Talida however was proving to be quite a challenge. They searched the garden before a dreaded conclusion dawned on them. They looked over to the dark part of the garden which was strictly forbidden to enter. Not even Clow Reed himself went in there. "You don't think?" Yue and Kiro moved closer to see Talida's bracelet on the floor. "Did our master tell her not to go in there?"

"No, I don't think he did." Yue said with a frown on his face.

They followed the path deeper in to the darkness and heard a child's laugh. "Talida!" They called but she didn't come out. "She still thinks were playing hide and seek."

Talida looked around her hiding place to see white flowers everywhere on vines all over the place. The strange thing about them was that not one of them we're open. Talida had a very strange feeling about this place. She turned to see a statue of a young woman with her eyes closed. The woman had a long flowing dress just like her hair. The statue looked both angry and sad at the same time. Talida could feel something bad coming off the statue and thought she had to find a new hiding place.

She was looking so intently at the statue that she didn't notice the vines behind her were moving. They moved slowly towards her and were heading for her arms and legs. By the time she realised what was happening they quickly wrapped around her arms and legs. She couldn't move and was rendered helpless. Talida looked up to see the statues eyes open and one of her arms swiped at her.

Kiro and Yue heard Talida screaming bloody murder. They ran to her aid and saw the statue scratch Talida's arm and they charged. They ripped the vines and pulled Talida back before the arch. Talida was being held close by Yue and her body shook as she cried. Talida turned her head slightly to see the statue go back in to its position. For a moment all three of them stood by the arch and breathed heavily in fear.

Then very slowly a flower bloomed on the arch beside Yue's head. It pointed towards him and released its magic pollen on the gentle breeze that blew towards him. Talida saw this and looked up to see the pollen go past Yue's face. He didn't realise what was going on and had breathed it in. He started to sniff and began to rub his nose in irritation. His eyes watered slightly and Talida knew what he was about to do. "Yue?" She asked and Kiro turned to see what was going on.

"…heh…heh…heh…ha-" Kiro quickly placed a paw on Yue's face. "Not here! Talida, pinch his nose until we get out of here." Yue stood up with Talida in his arms and they quickly went back to the right area of the garden. All the way back Talida kept Yue's nose pinched and he breathed through his mouth.

When they reached the garden Kiro told Talida to let go. She handed Yue a handkerchief before she did and he would have said thank you but was over come by the urge to sneeze. Talida and Kiro kept their distance as he felt relief when a few pretty violent sneezes left him. "Heh…heh…AASSHHOO! HHASSHHHOO! HHHAARRSSHHOO!" A white mist left Yue and went through the handkerchief disappearing in to the air.

He seemed to have finished so Kiro came closer. But Yue was having trouble. "Heh…heh…this is…heh…annoying." Kiro had a wicked smile on his face. "Got one stuck?" He teased Yue who found this anything but funny. "I'll have to go back and pick a flower for you." But Yue wouldn't hear of it. "No…heh…it's too…heh…dangerous."

Talida felt a painful sensation on her arm and looked to see it had been cut. Blood ran down her arm and turned her dress a darker colour. She checked to see if there were anymore injuries but couldn't find any. But when she placed her hands on her back she felt something was caught on her dress. "Huh?" She picked off a white flower and caught Kiro's attention. He came over and couldn't believe their luck. "It must have snapped off when the vines attacked you."

Kiro took the flower and handed it to Yue. "Here, smell this." He ordered. Yue didn't want to sneeze again but was desperate to get the trapped one out. So he held it to his nose and inhaled deeply. His eyes watered again and let loose some more violent sneezes. "HAASSHHHOOO! Heh…heh…HAASSHHOO! Heh…heh…heh…HAAARRRSSHHOOO!"

Kiro took the flower back in to the garden seeing Yue's sneezing fit expire. Yue sniffed and wiped his eyes with Talida's handkerchief. Talida felt guilty and looked very sad. "I'm sorry." She said with her bowed. Yue put his hand under her chin and raised her head. Tears were glistening in those tiny girl's eyes. "It's not your fault. You weren't told not to go in there or the danger that lies within."

Kiro came running back with a frightened look on his face. "The statue, it's gone!" Now Yue looked concerned. "But no white breath hit her."

Talida looked confused. "White breath?" Kiro explained. "You know the mist you saw leaving Yue's mouth?" Talida nodded. "Well, when a certain white flower blooms it makes him sneeze. But when the flower has magic pollen it produces white breath. The breath can cure petrification and other ailments. But why she rose when none it her current form is a mystery. She had limited power as a statue; I'd hate to think how destructive she could be now. No white breath seemed to hit her so how can she have risen?"

It was then that Yue noticed Talida's arm. "You forgot about the blood rule Kiro. Even as little as a drop of strong magic blood can raise Danieva."

"But where did she get any?" Yue pointed to Talida's arm. "Oh."

Talida looked back at the dark garden and felt something. Danieva was speaking to Talida in her mind. 'They can't protect you forever you know. One of these days I'll finish what I started and I'll be free.' The guardians noticed Talida looking very scared. "No!" She cried in the direction she was looking and put her hands on her ears. Kiro rubbed his head on her face and she stopped hearing Danieva. "As long as we're around you don't have to fear her." Talida hugged Kiro and he held her close. Her body shook and cried for what seemed like hours. "You shouldn't cry so much, you'll make yourself ill" Kiro said and Talida started to calm down.

At that moment Clow Reed showed up and her memory was interrupted. She could hear Sakura and her friends passing the playground.

'If only Yue could remember. Danieva is powerful but needs the rest of my blood to become strong again. If my picture gets in to the paper then she'll find me and I won't be able to stop her. I'm not ready for that yet. If she finds me so soon she'll drain me. If that happens then the entire world will be in jeopardy. I can't let that happen! I won't let that happen!'

Talida got on her board and performed some tricks in the playground to clear her mind. She jumped between the swing chains and over the stairs. Talida grinded down the side of the slide and ollied over the seats. Sakura and her friends stopped to watch. She could feel them watching her and she stopped to look at them.

She felt a new set of eyes and turned round to see the skater gang looking at her oddly. Grinder was coming towards her and she tensed up. "Don't you touch her!" Julian yelled. "Yeah! Leave her alone!" Tori yelled at Grinder too.

But Grinder didn't look threatening this time. He just walked up to Talida and held out a balled fist. 'He wants me to spud him…oh very well, I'm tired of fighting anyway.' Talida held out a balled fist and tapped his. She'd rather punch his face in but this seemed like an offer of peace. "You're alright with us, come to the park any time. We heard about your other talents Hawk or is it Blizzard?"

It's both depending on the element." Grinder looked positively shocked. "Ice Queen too?"

"Ice Girl and princess were already taken." Grinder now looked impressed. "Do you make up these names?" Talida shook her head. "No, the people who live there made them up."

"Well I've got one for you." Talida sighed. "Oh no, not another one."

"You seem to like jumping a lot, so how does Ollie sound?" Talida thought about this. "Well I prefer the ramps but I haven't got much of a problem with the name."

"Ollie it is, see you at weekend." Grinder turned to Sakura and chums. "You friends are welcome too." Talida looked over to the others and back again. "Yeah, sure." Talida watched him go back to his gang and skate out of the park. When Talida turned she saw Sakura was standing right behind her. "Do you mean that?"

"Mean what?" Talida asked with a tired look on her face. "That we're your friends." Talida thought about this. "It's either that or the annoying people that keep hanging around me. No, I think friends fit the bill perfectly." Sakura smiled and Talida smiled back.

She came up to them and she was welcomed. They walked home together and Julian was talking to Yue in her mind. "So?"

"There's definitely something about her." Yue was trying hard to think about where he had seen her before, but the memory just didn't seem to come. "It's funny how you can't remember, you never forget anything." Yue nodded and thought it strange too. But there was nothing he or Julian could do about it.

When it came to splitting up Tori had to ask her something. "Alidat, why did you tear up your picture?" Talida stopped and glared at him. "Look Tori, you lot may be my friends now but my business is my own." Talida went home leaving the others to think about what she said. "I wonder what she meant by that?"

"Do you think she's like us Julian?"

"I don't know Sakura. I can sense something familiar about her, but when I try to remember the feeling goes away."

That night Talida went out for a flight and just flew over the clouds looking down on the world. She loved to fly and soared over the clouds. Talida thought nothing could be better and dived in and out of the clouds getting absolutely soaked. When she came out again she saw Yue, Kiro and Sakura looking for something. Talida really hoped it wouldn't be her. They looked down and found what they were looking for. Talida waited until they had flown down before flying to the spot they looked down from. She looked down but couldn't see what they were going after.

Yue looked up and caught Sakura's attention. Talida knew she'd been spotted and flew away above the clouds. "Do you think she'll join us?"

"I don't know Sakura; she isn't our enemy but doesn't want anything to do with us. So whether she'll join us or not is a question I can't answer." Sakura looked thoughtful and nodded.

Talida was flying home fast. 'I hope my identities still safe.' She thought desperately looking behind her every now and again. They were too busy to follow her anyway.

When the weekend arrived Talida went to the skate park. Grinder and the rest of the gang acted like friends towards her instead of enemies. She didn't know why but thought it was better than the way they used to act towards her. The other skaters greeted her with the same amount of respect they had always had for her.

She was on the ramp when her friends arrived. She landed a few tricks before coming over to them. Sakura and Tori had arrived first before Julian and Madison arrived. Sakura stuck to her blades and Tori used a BMX. Madison also practiced with blades but Julian chose to use a board.

Talida couldn't help but smile when she saw Julian fall off it. She hid her smile behind her hair so no one saw it. The reason why she smiled was because she saw Yue falling off the board instead of Julian. She found it absolutely hilarious but had to remember it was Julian not Yue. 'Not so dignified now.' When she swallowed her smile she helped Julian to find his balance.

By the end of the day Talida admitted it was better to have friends than none at all. She even laughed a few times and had changed her attitude today.

A few nights later Talida went flying again. She felt happy and free just watching the world below. She felt a joy that only flying could bring and soared even higher above the clouds. She looked around and dived in to a cloud.

Then suddenly she was caught in a dark material and the top was closed. She appeared to be in a type of sack and couldn't get out. She could hear the same manic laughs like the shadow on the roof top. But there seemed to be more this time. "We got you little falcon. Now we'll take you back to our mistress! Yahahahaha!" The voice was high pitched and sounded crazy.

She could feel the bag being moved and heard nothing until ten minutes later. The shadows laughter turned it to screams and the one that carried her dropped the bag. Talida felt herself falling straight down towards the earth.

Then she felt the bag had been grabbed and the top had been undone. Talida was free and zoomed out of the bag at terrific speed. There was no word that could describe her anger right now. She raised her staff and Clow's sign surrounded her. The shadows saw this and started to flee but were too slow. A pulse of light filled the night above the clouds. The shadows were instantly destroyed and the light disappeared.

Talida had used a lot of energy and felt a bit drained. Sakura and the others stared at her and she looked back. Talida bowed to say thanks and flew unsteadily back down to earth. "Are you alright?" Talida nodded at first but then she suddenly passed out.

Yue was there on hand to catch her like he caught the bag. He carried her in his arms back to Julian's house. Talida opened her eyes on the way there but couldn't move. Her limbs felt heavy and she was exhausted at the amount of power she used. "Will she be alright?" She heard Sakura ask Yue with deep concern in her voice. "You remember what happened when you first converted a Clow card to your symbol?" Sakura nodded. "She'll be fine by tomorrow then?" Yue nodded. Talida watched the world go by beneath her before slipping back to the darkness.

They put her on Julian's bed and waited for her to wake. Sakura and Madison had to go home whilst Kiro stayed and guarded the door. The girls came back in the morning but there was no change in Talida's condition. Yue had turned back in to Julian and he watched her all night. He was even tempted to remove her mask but Yue told him otherwise. "Those that don't want to be known should have the choice to stay that way."

She was down for the count all day and it lasted till the afternoon when the sky began to grow dark. "Do you think she'll ever wake up? It didn't take me this long to wake up."

Kiro looked thoughtfully at Sakura. "You channel your energy through the cards. Her power comes from inside herself. This means she uses more energy than you do Sakura; that is probably why she passed out. She used a great amount of energy to get rid of all those shadows at the same time." Sakura looked sort of sad and knew what Kiro said was right. She used the cards but the stranger had only her own strength to use.

Julian went in to his room later to see if Talida had woken. She was still there and hadn't moved, she breathed as if she was in a peaceful sleep. 'Who are you?' He thought leaving something to eat and drink if she woke up alone. He took one last look at her before going back in to the kitchen.

"No change?" Kiro asked Julian who shook his head. Then he glowed and turned back in to Yue making them jump. "You really should have a warning bell or something to tell us when you're gonna do that!" Sakura said with a hand on her heart. Yue frowned at these words and got back to the matter at hand.

Talida on the other hand woke to find herself in Julian's room. She felt groggy and didn't know what was wrong with her. She heard what the others said a while ago and knew it made sense. But she had used more power than that without blacking out so to her it was a complete mystery. 'What's going on?' Talida spotted the tray of food and drink. She wasn't hungry but very thirsty.

Yue was going to check up on Talida when he could hear movement on the other side of the door. He looked through the keyhole to see Talida drinking long and deep. Then she took a pen and paper leaving a little note. He watched her open the window and fly out of it. Yue entered the room and picked up the note. 'Thanks for everything. I don't know whether you trust me or not but I know your trustworthy. I owe you two favours after tonight so I'll be keeping an eye on you lot, you can be sure of that.'

Yue went back to the others and showed them the note. "This is nice but creepy." Madison said looking at the note strangely. They all agreed with her and thought it to be a very strange note. "I wonder if we'll ever find out who she is."

"I gave up thinking about that a long time ago." Sakura said looking tired at the mere thought of it. "She'll tell us in due time, and that's something we have a lot of." Yue said looking at the note in his hand.

Just like she said Talida kept a close eye on them with or without magic. Some nights they would spot Talida flying over a cloud only to disappear again. She was very good at doing that and it didn't bother them. Sometimes one of them would try to follow her home. But Talida's senses were on high alert and she kept loosing them like she did the skater gang.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

** Danieva's Quest**

Madison decided to use her pass at the end of the month and everyone went with her. Even Talida joined them. This time they got to explore the whole garden and breathed in their wonderful scents. They avoided the dark greenhouse altogether much to the relief of Julian's sinuses. Talida kept on lagging behind and caught up each time she did before they noticed she was behind.

It was only when they reached the garden maze did Talida lag behind again. She was outside the maze and felt something strange coming from within it. She looked in to the maze entrance to see some shadowy figures gliding past. They went by so fast they were blurred in Talida's vision. 'OH! HELL!' Talida ran in to the maze and grabbed her pendant from around her neck. She was finding her way in to the middle whilst turning in to her magic form at the same time. She didn't know what she was getting in to or what she would find; But Talida was driven by concern for her friends.

She hid behind a wall before the centre of it and peeped inside using a hole in the bush. All her friends were bound by the same force as the one on the building and were taken to separate parts of the centre. The shadows were milling round them but didn't attack. They were so engrossed in their captors they didn't know Talida was there.

Talida was about to make her move but someone appeared in the centre. A woman with long flowing brown hair matching her long flowing green dress smiled at them with her stunning blue eyes.

"Hello Yue, Kiro. Remember me?" Kiro and Yue looked with the utmost hate at this woman. "Hello Danieva, up to no good again?" Kiro asked trying to keep a growl from sounding in his voice. "Why however did you guess?"

"You've gained control over the shadow wraiths again? You're not as powerful as you were, and when your power fails they'll turn on you."

Danieva looked exceedingly bored. "Yes Kiro I've heard the same boring story. But I'll have more power after this." She took out a little black box and opened it in front of Yue's face. White flowers were sparkling inside and Yue tried to hold his breath. But the pollen had already started to work and he couldn't help releasing a sneeze. Danieva absorbed the white breath and felt recharged. "Do you like them? I made them myself when I was Clow Reed's apprentice. Pity he didn't destroy them when I was turned in to a statue. Around me they'll flourish and I'll have more than enough white breath to last quite a few lifetimes."

Talida had seen enough and blasted the box in to dust. Danieva looked over to where the blast had come from and stared when she saw Talida appear. Yue breathed a sigh of relief and looked over to Talida. Danieva looked like someone had taken the wind out of her. "This is…unbelievable! The one's blood I need…I believed to have died long ago…and yet…here you are."

Talida did a little bow and the others looked confused. "Your little mask hides your identity I see. But Yue and Kiro should've recognised you by your staff and wings." Talida looked annoyed and couldn't see the joke.

"Well we don't…heh…ashho…recognise her." Danieva missed the white breath and growled. "So you were holding one in Yue? I should've known. Well to ease your mind I'll tell you who this is. This girl in black is none other than Talida Reed, the last in the Clow bloodline. Her blood made me come back to life, by accident of course. You two should know this, you were there after all."

The two guardians looked at each other totally mystified. "We were?"

"Yes Kiro. Hmm…looks like Clow Reed wiped more than the memories of where you used to live. You don't remember the years you spent with her? Oh, how delightful. Your life will be mine one way or another Talida." Talida shot a fireball at Danieva clearly very angry. 'Don't count on it.' Danieva made the ball disappear and smiled. "She doesn't speak. Have you become a mute?" Talida didn't respond. "Well let's see how quiet your friends will stay."

The shadows started to move towards them and they looked worried. Talida raised her staff and a bright light flooded the darkness once again. 'That's it Miss. Reed, just keep on using your energy and your life will be mine.' She thought as the shadows disappeared. "We'll meet again Miss. Reed I promise."

The bonds broke and Danieva vanished. Talida took a step back as the others got up, she felt tired but there were fewer shadows to destroy so she felt ok. She turned and walked towards an opening out of the centre. "Talida?" Yue asked. Talida looked back and then ran out of the maze as fast as she could.

She turned back in to Alidat again and went to the garden's cafe. The others slowly walked in to find her drinking a coke. "Are you guys alright?" She asked pretending to be oblivious to what happened a few minutes ago. Smiles appeared on their faces so she thought they were ok.

They all went to the gift shop next and Talida found a bottle of perfume. She read the label. 'The moon flower.' The label had the same kind of flowers that made Yue sneeze. 'Not magic ones for white breath but it could be useful.' She bought a bottle and hid it in her bag from the others who she was watching very carefully.

Julian blew his nose and was sniffing every now and then like he had a cold. Sakura and Madison wanted to leave quickly so they did. Talida could see the fear in their eyes past the fake smiles on their faces.

They waited for the bus and sat down together. This time Madison sat next to Talida who stared out the window back at the garden. She saw Danieva in the shadows and was talking in Talida's head again. 'Soon Talida, I shall have your blood and you can't stop me.'

"Get out of my head and stop posing as a vampire." She muttered. Madison heard Talida and saw her mouth moving. "What did you say?" Talida looked at Madison. "Nothing, I was just talking to myself." Madison turned away and Talida smiled. When they got off the bus Talida went home alone and wondered about Danieva all day.

She asked Winston about her and he went strangely quiet. "Who is she?" Winston avoided her eyes. "Would you like some tea?" He went in to the kitchen and came back to and even more curious Talida. "Sugar?"

Talida snapped and turned the tray over making everything fly off the coffee table. The cups and Teapot smashed making the tea splash down on to the floor. "STOP IT! TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!" She yelled and looked very angry. Winston kept calm and took a deep breath. "You were never told how your parents died and I knew this day would come. When Danieva lived again she came looking for you so she could have all her powers back again. But instead she found your parents two years later. Combined their blood did restore a fraction of her power…but I never thought it would make her last this long. Yue's white breath can make her last longer and become more powerful. But the only thing that can bring her back to full strength is your blood."

Talida sat down and was shaking like a leaf. "So she…she…"

"Killed your parents, yes." Talida looked lost for words and Winston put an arm around her. It did very little to calm Talida and she told him what happened today. Winston went very pale and gave her some advice. "Whatever you do don't fight her! She must have her powers drained before she can be destroyed for good. Don't leave yourself exposed so she can drain you. If that happens then the world and everything we know will be destroyed."

The next day at school Talida was distant and didn't talk to anyone. Julian tried but she just stared sadly at the ground. She avoided her friends for a few days and said very little to anyone. Her sleep was minimal and she looked tired everyday she went to school.

She snapped out of it over the weekend by coming to a conclusion. 'Next time I see Danieva I'll end her life!'

On Monday she was back to her old self but her friends wanted an explanation. She was back up in the tree at lunch. Julian and Tori were on the other side of the fence whilst Sakura and Madison were down below. "What happened last week?" Talida looked angry. "That's my own business; I'm back to normal so no questions need to be asked."

"Not if it doesn't make you act like a complete stranger for nearly week!" Julian and the others agreed. Talida looked angry at being cornered like this but they weren't about to back down. "Fine! You really want to know then here it is! I just found out how my parents died ok! If you want to know more then they were also murdered! Do you want the time and date as well? There is such a thing as begin too nosy you know!" Talida sat back in the tree over looking her friends who were feeling very guilty. "Sorry Alidat." Sakura said. "Yeah, well what can you do?" Talida said quietly.

As the month past Danieva seemed to be laying low. The shadows were still and there were no attacks being made on Talida or her friends. 'For now.' She thought. Talida got to act like an average kid again and was even invited to a sleep over at Sakura's.

Unfortunately Nikki and Chelsea were coming too. But when Talida changed they started to warm up to her. Talida still didn't say sorry, but they didn't hold what she said against them anymore. It was water under the bridge now and peace had been made. Talida thought it would be a wise move to leave her necklace in her bag. Sakura would've definitely noticed the pendant and Talida kept it hidden.

Sakura showed the girls round the house and Tori was trying to lay some ground rules. "I have to get up early and work tomorrow so I'm asking you lot not to stay up too late chatting." Sakura was getting really angry. "Tori this is my sleep over stop treating us like little kids!" An argument was about to take place so the girls took refuge in Sakura's room. "You've done this before." Chelsea and Nikki nodded at Talida's observation. Ten minutes later Sakura came in with a very ugly look on her face. "We've been given a curfew! Lights out at eleven. I feel like I'm in prison." Then she calmed down and the fun began.

First there was games and truth or dare. But then it took a bad turn. The conversation turned to families and Talida became very quiet. Kiro listened intently and Talida looked very unsure of what to say. Sakura and Madison said she didn't have to say anything. "Don't worry it's going to come out sometime so it might as well be now. My parents were murdered when I was eight, my uncle died whilst I was in his care. I have no other living relatives and I live with my father's butler Winston, we live in a house my uncle used to own but is now mine." Nikki and Chelsea didn't know what to say and just kept quiet.

Talida left the room and sort some sanctuary away from the uneasy silence. Julian had come round for a visit and was in the living room. He saw her leaning with her back against the wall and sigh. "Are you ok?" Talida looked over to Julian. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"No you're not." Julian patted the cushion on the seat next to him. "Now tell me what's up." Talida looked in to his eyes and it felt like she was talking to Yue again. She felt comfortable and safe once again so she decided to tell. "We were talking about our families." Julian's smile faded and he had an understanding look on his face. "Painful subject?" Talida nodded. "Well here's something you could do. Don't think about the bad things and try to concentrate on the good things."

"There's not many things to feel good about. They left me with Winston and sent me to residential schools every term. The only time I was with them was on Christmas and my birthdays." Julian smiled. "What did you do on those days?"

"Family stuff I guess. We opened presents, celebrated the days, talked about nothing important all day…family stuff." Talida was day dreaming and had a smile on her face. "It's a good feeling to remember stuff like that isn't it?" Talida nodded. "Yeah, thanks Julian." Tori went in to the living room and Julian stood up to great him. "Remember what I said, no later than eleven."

"Sir yes sir!" Talida saluted him and marched back to Sakura's room. The girls were watching and giggled. Julian chuckled whilst Tori didn't know how to react to that.

The sleepover was back in full swing and families weren't ever mentioned again. There was games and laughter for hours. Then sleeping bags were unravelled and Sakura went out for a minute to answer a phone call. Something caught Nikki's eye on the floor. Talida's pendant had fallen out of the bag and she picked it up. "Is this yours Alidat?" Talida spun round so fast she felt dizzy. She saw her pendant in Nikki's hand and snatched it back in a second. Nikki and Chelsea stared at Talida as she cradled it in her hands. "Sorry, it was my dad's. It's the one thing I don't let anyone else touch or see. Sorry."

"That's ok; I probably would've done the same." Nikki said in an understanding way. "Yeah, me too." Chelsea said. "You want a cuddly toy to keep you company?" Chelsea pulled out a little blue fluffy bunny and Talida just laughed. She had a quick glance at Kiro who still hadn't moved. He didn't see the pendant from his point of view.

They went to watch a video and Talida went back to Sakura's room alone. She spotted Kiro and studied him a little. Kiro kept perfectly still but was worried she knew something. Talida shook her head, retrieved what she wanted and left the room.

Kiro breathed a sigh of relief and Sakura returned on her own. Kiro flew over to her and looked concerned. "Alidat took a real good look at me a moment ago. Like she knew something." Sakura turned to Kiro and took his concerns in to account. "What else did she do?" Kiro told Sakura about the pendant but she wasn't about to chance a peek in Talida's bag. "She's got it on her now. I didn't get a look at it, but she seemed to be very protective about it being touched by other people." Sakura returned and they kept watching the video.

Tori came home at eleven thirty to find the girls asleep. They woke up the next morning at different times. Talida woke up last; her energies were drained after Danieva's attacks but seemed to be slowly coming back to normal.

They didn't leave the house until late afternoon. Talida skated around the town deep in thought. 'I hope Kiro didn't notice me too much.' She took out her pendant and held it close.

She held her pendant all through the day and went flying again at night. She didn't tell anyone it was her birthday tomorrow but somehow they knew. Talida didn't want to celebrate it but her friends' had other ideas. They invited Talida to Madison's house and a surprise party was waiting for her.


End file.
